


Getting Out Alive

by Knightqueen



Category: Cloverfield (2008)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Family, Gen, Rating: PG13, Romance, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-06
Updated: 2012-03-06
Packaged: 2017-11-01 13:58:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 44,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/357592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knightqueen/pseuds/Knightqueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. A twist in fate has occurred, but will it change the outcome of five lives as they race to save one?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part I: Flight or Flight

**Disclaimer:**   _Cloverfield_  and all things related, are property of J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves, Drew Goddard, and Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved. Original Storyline and Characters are property of me, the author. All rights reserved.

* * *

**Part I: Flight or Flight**

* * *

"… _Please go in an orderly manner. Continue moving south towards Brooklyn…"_ Jason looked up to regard the helicopter with mild concern as he soldiered across the walkway of the Brooklyn Bridge. Flanking him on both sides was his brother, Rob, and Lily who walked alongside Marlena. The crowd around them buzzed with conversation, speculating or trying to figure out what to do when they got across to Brooklyn.  _"I repeat, do not stop keep moving. There be instructions on the Brooklyn side… Get across the bridge. Move in a quick and orderly fashion."_  Jason retreated into his mind as Rob turned to Hud and asked, "Still Filming?"

This certainly wasn't what he in mind when he went to cheer his brother up. Actually, a "terrorist attack" was the farthest thing from his mind. Jason would've liked to think that something like this would be categorized under a "bad feeling", but he and everybody else he came into contact with never experienced any sort of calm before the storm type of feelings. Everyone was just focused on being hospitable to Rob and enjoying themselves, generally.

There was nothing more his irrational mind would love than to blame this entire situation on his little brother, but he knew better. No expected a dispute to break out between Rob and Beth. At first, he just assumed Travis a friend of Beth's (regardless of his suspicions), possibly interested in the opposite sex (not meaning girls). But Hud brought it all to light with his snooping into business not really relating to him. Lily's secret just solidified things. So where in this, did Jason find room to blame Rob's relationship troubles? Zilch.

Rob's personal dramas were forgotten the very moment that earthquake hit the city and scared the lot of them shitless. Jason nearly pissed himself and choked on his beer at the same time; The quake came totally unannounced, everything from there just crumbled around them. The very moment the city caught fire and hurtled burning chunks of debris at them, Jason realized that this was no mere earthquake. Earthquakes didn't cause apocalyptic-esque explosions and they sure as hell didn't send the Statue of Liberty's head flying into the city streets, startling about half a dozen of the citizens (including himself).

Whatever destroyed the Woolworth Building and brought further ruin to the street they once stood in, was big. Rob's camera caught nothing but a brief glimpse of it; The derbies and smoke covered so much of whatever retreated behind the building that a lot was left to the imagination. Several of the people stuck outside the convenience store said it towered over their heads, roared even. Marlena said it was eating everyone caught in its path. Jason wasn't sure what attacked them, it couldn't have been what people were described - a monster. Unless he saw it for himself, it was crazy talk. All Jason knew was that he had to keep a level head, if only for Rob and Lily's sake. Hopefully that wouldn't be for long, they were almost out of Manhattan and Jason needed time to himself. Either to have a panic attack, or process the entire night in a quiet corner to himself.

His train of thought was interrupted when someone laced their fingers with his hand and squeezed lightly. Jason gazed down to regard his hand in question before recognizing the petite hand. He looked at Lily in momentary confusion before forcing a smile on his taut face. "Are you okay?" Lily asked. Jason shrugged his shoulders as they continued on with the crowd. "I've been better. How are you?" Jason asked, shifting the attention to their friend, which caught Lily off guard. Marlena looked away from the crowd ahead and blinked. The dust that covered her from head to toe had been cleaned away some, though her clothes were still covered in it. "…I'm fine," Marlena deadpanned, moving out of Lily's grasp. She made it clear that she didn't want to talk about earlier. Jason and Lily moved to keep up with her.

"…You can always tell them how it all went down, Hud," Rob smiled, despite his mood. He watched Hud shake his head behind the camera as he readjusted its' angle. Rob had been trying for the last half an hour trying to reach Beth, all he received was a busy signal. She wasn't answering her land phone and her cell phone was turned off. Rob was at his wits end at.  _You picked a perfect time to blow her off, idiot_ , Rob thought to himself as he focused his attention on Hud. "No, that wouldn't work. …People need to see this, you? This is going to be important. I mean, people are gonna watch this -"

Hud's speech fell into the background the very moment his cell phone began to play the monotone jingle he chose for Beth after sleeping with her. Anxious, he quickly moved away from his friend and approached the side of the Bridge where there was least resistance from the crowd. It only took a second for Hud to realize that he was rambling to himself, doing a double take he shouted, "Rob!" He shifted the camera over to his friend as Rob held the phone up to his ear. "Beth? Beth?" Rob repeated her name frantically, awaiting a response.  _"Rob!"_  Hud's call was still being ignored. The young man looked around for the rest of the group; Lily and Jason were just out eye's sight steadily making their way further across the bridge. Marlena was no where to be seen.  _Oh, this is not good,_  He thought panicked.

Rob was far too absorbed in his own worries to notice Hud's troubles. The sound on his phone was fuzzy, indicating the connection wasn't very strong, and combined with the chaos going on around him he was straining to hear anything. "Beth, I've been trying to reach you. Are you okay? Hello?" He said into the receiver.

Hud was bouncing on his heels trying to get the attentions of Jason and Lily. "Wait a second you guys! Hey!" He saw Lily stop and tugging Jason along with her and breathed a near sigh of relief. "Look, hey! Lily, Jason, stop!" Hud bellowed over the crowd. Rob cast a irritated look over his shoulder at Hud then as he pressed a finger to his ear and said, "I'm sorry. its really loud here, can you speak up?" For a moment he swore he heard Beth answer, but more static screeched into his ear. He glanced up at the helicopter as it made another pass.

"Lily! Lily, wait!" Hud shouted again when she started moving forward again. She seemed to have heard him, Lily turned her head in question and squinted in Hud's general direction. "What?" Lily cried. She gave Jason's arm a tug, halting him in his steps. He turned to look at her but spotted Hud jumping up above the crowd instead, his mouth moving frantically.

"What's he saying?" Jason inquired. Lily silenced him with a raise of her hand. Hud zoomed in on Lily as she slowly began to move against the crowd, pulling her boyfriend along with her. "Rob got a hold of Beth!"

"What?" Lily's face exuded momentary relief. Pressing a hand against Jason's chest, she swung around causing Jason to stumble back into the side of the bridge. "Wait! Marlena, wait!" She shouted. Marlena looked up from her feet and turned around. Her face twisted with confusion. What were Jason and Lily doing so far behind her?

She moved forward to go back, but one man raised his hands and shoved her forward. "Hey man, stop!" She snapped, marching forward again. Another pair of hands pushed her along with the crowd, disregarding her mere presence beyond an obstacle to their safety. "Get off me!" Marlena snapped. "Lily!" Marlena continued to fight against the bodies pushing her back to no avail. It was one against an army.

Behind her, Lily, Jason, and Hud looked on with dread, Marlena couldn't get to them. Cupping her hands around her face Lily called for her friend, rapidly disappearing into the sea of heads. "Marlena -  _!_ " Suddenly, the bridge was rocked by an unknown force, the water below churned violently in sync with the same roar they heard earlier. The crowd became more animated, everyone was looking around for the cause of the tremor. Jason gripped the side of the bridge as Lily fell against him. He looked around for the source of the disturbance that sent the crowd back into panic mode but could find nothing beyond the roar. Below him, people were abandoning their cars running in the opposite direction, screaming. Regaining his composure, he gripped Lily by the arms and began to move her towards Hud. "Lily, stay here, I'm going to get Marlena," He said. Lily stared at him like he sprouted two heads, he wasn't serious. "What? No!" She proclaimed, trying to hold him back as he pulled away.

"Lil, this isn't up for discussion…"

"Jason, no! Marlena will get to the other side, she'll be…" Lily's words trailed off when Jason pressed his cell phone into her hand. "Here. Try to get a hold my parents. I'll be right back," Jason commanded. Pulling out of Lily's weakened grasp, he pointed a finger at Hud. "Watch her!" Hud could barely stammer a reply before Jason made his way through the crowd.

" _Jason, stop!_ " Lily screamed after her boyfriend. Hud moved a little closer to Lily while he focused the camera on Jason's rapidly moving body. He knew the chances of stopping Lily if she chose to follow Jason would be slim to none, but he would try to keep her next to him.

Rob appeared beside Hud moments later, crestfallen. No sooner than he began to hear Beth through the static interference, he lost the connection. He attempted to redial her number but he got a busy signal again. Lily walked past Hud over to Rob, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Did you get Beth?" Rob wondered if responding the negative would be the correct answer to her question. Nevertheless, he was prepared to answer when a scream distracted him. In the second it took the trio to turn toward the crowd ahead, whatever caused the alarm came crashing down on the bridge, sending everyone in its path flying through the air and crashing to the ground.

The bridge swung violently to the right, Rob barely had time to right himself.  _"Jason!"_  Lily's blood curdling scream sent a chill down his spine. Where was his brother? Rob grabbed her by the arm as the bridge began to swing. The other end started to separate crumbing down into the water as the suspension cables snapped. "Lily, c'mon!" He cried, pulling her along. Lily refused to follow, she tried to push against the crowd, trying to reach where she last haw Jason.

He was all that mattered, Marlena wasn't even a factor anymore. "Jason! No! Jason, no! Jason!" Lily screamed as Rob pulled her along, falling in with the rest of the crowd. Hud followed after them, stumbling backward, filming the final moments of the bridge as it heaved upward, shattering into a million pieces. The suspension cords snapped like rubber bands, twisting madly through the air, destroying everything in their path. Satisfied with what was captured on film, Hud turned and broke into the fastest run his body could muster.

* * *

**(Jason):**

"… _Watch her!"_  I said. Hud's mouth was flapping like a fish when I took off into the crowd. I practically had to elbow my way through the mass of people bunched together. Many of them were petrified by whatever hit the bridge. For a second I thought I heard the roar the man was trying to describe to us earlier on Broadway, but there was so much going on I couldn't tell one sound from another. "Marlena!" Marlena, where are you?" I shouted over the commotion. Some heads turned in my direction, their faces expressing uneasiness or curiosity, but none of them were Marlena.

At this point, she could be anywhere by now, maybe even on the other side of the bridge. I started to move on, I only moved a few feet before a hand clamped down on my shoulder and proceeded to turn me around. My heart skipped a beat, my body tensed in preparation for attack until I met the large brown eyes of Marlena Diamond. The tightness in my chest was alleviated. "Hey!" I blurted, "We gotta go back…"

Marlena looked at me like I was crazy. "What…? Go back, why? What did Lily want?" She asked. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, this wasn't a great time for questions. "Rob got a hold of Beth. C'mon," I said. Marlena nodded blankly as I grabbed her by the arm and started to move effortlessly move through the flabbergasted crowd that continued to search for the origin of the sound heard earlier. The cries of various people we past made me uneasy, it getting harder to regulate my own breathing whenever my heart jumped at the tiniest scream.

We were halfway to Rob and the others when Marlena slowed her pace down. "Could you see it? Did - did you see anything?" She asked. I shook my head. "No, now come on, we gotta -" My attention was drawn away from Marlena. The screaming around us reached a new high. I managed to catch the barest glimpse of what like a giant serpents tail, before it hit the bridge. "Oh my God!" Marlena screeched in my ear, as she fell forward. She collided hard against me, we fell to the ground in a heap. My head hit the ground with a thud, the world fell out of focus as I edged toward oblivion. My arm was trapped underneath me, receiving the full punishment of two bodies lying atop of it.

The screaming around us came a frenzied melody of chaos, but to my ears it sounded like I was underwater. I could their feel feet slamming down around us as they fled the scene. It was like a stampede. My momentary haze didn't allow me the haste everyone else was using. Opening my eyes, I saw the bridge breaking away into pieces. I felt a pair of hands grab me under the arms and haul me up from the ground. Was it Marlena? I all I knew was they were attempting to drag me away from the rapidly disintegrating bridge. "Get up! Jason, get up!  _C'mon!_ " Marlena screamed at me.

In that moment, my lack of response faded and everything around me came rushing back in full volume and clarity. I caught the tail end of Marlena's screaming in time to see several suspension cords break away from the bridge. That woke me up. Staggering up to my feet, I grabbed Marlena by the hand, we ran for it. Running across the bridge was like trying to run across a rope bridge; For the most part it was sturdy, then it would sway up and down, threatening to toss us over.

I ignored Marlena's screaming, everyone who was in front of me along with my own throbbing head. All I focused on were the terrible sounds of twisting metal overhead and the roar that echoed behind us. It's what propelled me forward - hopefully away from danger. I pulled Marlena up beside me, despite the disadvantage of her wedges she was moving pretty fast. She looked back to see what was happened, I shoved her forward causing her to stumble. "Go, Marlena! Go!" I screamed. Marlena obeyed, we were off the bridge just moments before the rest of the walkway crumbled. We made our way into the tunnel, falling in with the crowd.

The outside was a few inches away from us, but the crowd jostled us around making it hard to move forward any quicker than we were now. Their screams bounced off the wall, echoing throughout the spacious tunnel. The inside of my ears stung from the shrill pitches, causing my head to throb with pain. Blinking back tears, I retrained my eyes on Marlena who remained in front of me. As we reached the end of the tunnel, I caught the familiar flash of yellow and blue through the brown hue of the night a second before it fell out of sight. "Hud!" His name flew from my mouth automatically. My vision cleared long enough to confirm the blur of man was in fact Hud Platt, pulling himself off the ground. "Hud!" My cry went unheard, Hud vanished into the crowd struggling with the strap of the camera. Fighting to keep my footing, I braced myself as the crowd dragged Marlena and I in another direction.

* * *

Rob was having trouble keeping up with Lily, she was moving faster than him and … he looked behind him. Where was Hud? He was tempted to stop running and look for his friend but Lily was the more pressing mater. If he lost her, then there was no telling if he could find her again. Resuming his pursuit, he steadily began to gain ground on his brother's girlfriend. "Lily, wait! Lily, stop!" He shouted breathlessly. Lily stumbled to a stop against the wall of a  _Sephora_  store. Rob tripped over his feet, he used to the wall to kill his momentum, cringing when his cell phone scrapped against the stone.

Civilians continued past them, lost in their own fear and desperation to escape the city. Rob was bumped a couple of times before he got the message, he moved behind Lily, pocketing his cell phone. Lily was choking trying to catch her breath, her eyes stung with tears as she tried to figure out what happened. As she pushed away from the wall Rob's voice came out from the background. "…Lily, turn around and listen to me," She spun around to meet him, disregarding her shaky balance. Her face cracked when she laid eyes on the panic-stricken Rob. Bending over she placed her hands on her knees. "Would please tell me what happened?" She sobbed, her hair falling over her face. Rob's hands hovered over her shoulders apprehensive. "I dunno, Lily, but -"

She stood up halfway, her trembling hands "I mean it came out of nowhere! I don't- and I didn't see Jason… he was there and then he was gone! Oh, God," She buried her face her in hands, grief stricken. She was so sure Jason was among the people who got get hit, that Rob wasn't sure he could convince her otherwise. "Lily, we don't know what happened to Jason and Marlena!" Rob proclaimed.

Lily just shook her head. She wept freely, not caring if her mascara was running down her face, everyone was too busy with their own welfare to care. Rob grabbed Lily by the arms and straightened her. "You don't know what happened, Lily! We weren't even looking! He could be alive for all we know!" He said. Lily's shoulders heaved as she continued to cry, she shook her head slowly in be. Rob looked away from Lily in dismay, at the same time he spotted Hud coming toward them, camera in hand, looking thoroughly spooked.

Releasing Lily he left her against the wall, he approached Hud quickly relieved that he was alright. "Hud! Hud, what happened? Where's Jason and Marlena?" He inquired quickly. Hud shook his head. "I dunno, man," Hud stammered. "I didn't see them behind me." Rob bit his lip in anxiety, he didn't want to believe his brother and Marlena were dead. He didn't see them get hit, yet his better judgment told him not to hold out for hope.

They stood in an uncomfortable silence for a half a second then Hud spoke up. "Rob. Rob, dude, we can't stay here. We can't," Hud insisted. Rob moved over to the wall and leaned against it, the adrenaline was weaning off, his legs felt like overstretched rubber bands. "Rob, we gotta get out of here, man. Listen to me, we gotta get moving…" Hud began, his mind grasping at straws. Looking at the dazed expression on Rob's face, Hud began to wonder if he was only one thinking about of survival.

"Maybe we can use the Lincoln Tunnel, go to the Manhattan Bridge. Something! Rob, come on!" Hud pleaded. Rob just shook his head. "We have to wait for Jason and Marlena-" Rob started. "Rob, they could be dead for all we know!" Hud blurted, fear getting the better of him. Rob's head snapped upward, his eyes frowned when his face remained placid. Hud swore under his breath upon realizing his error.

"Lily!"

Lily's strangled sob and Rob's forthcoming comment died; Lily looked away from the wall in bewilderment. Pushing herself out of the corner, she glanced in every direction for source of voice in the scattered crowds passing them by. Rob and Hud did the same, they could not spot the speaker anywhere. A calmer of angry voices, startled them out of their search. Their attentions were soon pulled toward the electronics store across the street. Hud zoomed in on the entrance as a man dropped the trash can used to smash the glass doors. Dozens of people poured inside the store, with the intent to rob. "Oh, shit. Oh, Shit!" He muttered, astonished, sharing a look with Rob. People were going looting, the city was under attack and they were  _stealing_.

" _Lil!"_  Lily looked ahead of her, rapidly approaching their position were Jason and Marlena. They appeared no worse for ware than when she last saw them, they were alright! Jason felt a mixture of relief and guilt spread through his being at the sight of his sobbing girlfriend. Releasing Marlena from his grasp, he picked up his pace and embraced Lily as soon he reached her. Her arms were like a vice around his neck, but he welcomed the feeling. She muttered incoherent things against his shoulder as she wept with relief. "I'm alright, Lily. I'm okay," He assured her repeatedly. Standing to his full height, Lily's feet were dangling from the ground. "I thought you were dead," Lily sobbed, her head pressing against his cheek. Her hands gripped his shirt like he would disappear at any second. She moved back to stare into his eyes and found herself captured in a hungry kiss. Marlena stumbled past them over to the wall, trying to keep her eyes off the teary eyed reunion.

* * *

**(Hud):**

Watching Jason and Lily all over each other like that was really uncomfortable, but I couldn't help but feel relieved that he and Marlena were alive. I felt even better for Lily, I couldn't stand to see her crying like that. I felt like a heel now for even thinking they were the dead. Rob watched the two with envious eyes, I could tell he was thinking about Beth. When the two were done kissing, Jason just held Lily while she cried. Rob finally decided to approach his brother. "Jason, what happened?" He said.

Jason moved unwrapped his arms from around Lily allowing her to step to the side. Rob and Jason embraced in a brief hug before stepping back. He shook his head. "I- I dunno! I was looking for Marlena, and I.. I -" Jason raised a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose, I could see his arm trembling. He was really scared, I mean really. It was weird to see, really.

"…She - Marlena found me and we were heading back to you guys, when that … _thing_  hit the bridge! I got the wind knocked out me - I didn't know what was going on until -" Jason trailed off, when Rob's attention was drawn toward his pocket. I could hear the rapid beep of his cell phone. He fished the nokia out of his pocket, flipping it open his face contorted with dismay. "NO!" He snapped angrily. "What? Rob, what?" Jason blurted hastily. Rob glanced at his brother briefly before shutting his phone. "My battery's dead." He said. I felt the relieved sigh get caught in my throat. Frustration was building up inside me as I realized that we hadn't moved from our spot next to the cosmetics store.

"Yeah, dude, I …well, listen - we gotta get out of here man," I told him.

Jason nodded in agreement, his Adams-apple bobbing in near sync with his head. "Hud's right, Rob. We have to leave, we need to find the safest-!" Without warning Rob bolted from his place beside Jason and raced across the street toward the electronics store. "Rob! Rob!" Jason and I shouted after him as he disappeared into the store.

"Wait, where is he going!  _Where is he going?_ " Marlena cried, coming forward. Her sweaty face covered in soot and grime displayed the disbelief were all too astounded to show physically. "Goddamnit, we don't have time for this!" Jason snarled. "Lily stay here -"

"No! No, your not- Jason don't go!" Lily grabbed Jason by the arms and wouldn't let him go, no matter how hard he twisted in her grasp. I groaned. At this point we would never get out of here. "Oh, God. I'll go get him," I told Marlena. Jumping off the curb I bolted across the street, dodging several people as I did so. I exercised near daily, I wasn't a couch-potato, but all the this running in the span of barely half an hour was killing me.

My sides were already pinching with the familiar pain of a cramp. "…I can't take all this running man!" I heaved out, entering the illuminated store. My eyes stung at how bright it was in here, I squinted a little to allow my eyes to adjust to the light. All around me, I watched as boxes flew overhead to other people, they were totally ransacking the store. I honestly didn't see a point in it. Through the chaos I spotted Rob searching the shelves for something, most likely a phone battery. A man carrying a large box bumped into me, knocking me sideways. I muttered a quick 'excuse me' before focusing my attentions on a franticly moving Rob. "Hey, Rob! The store's closed, man!" He continued to pretend like he didn't hear me. The incessant chattering from the three television sets beside me distracted me from Rob for a minute.

"…. _The bridge was filled with pedestrians traveling across…"_  From an entirely different angle I could see the bridge, in the corner of the screen I saw something move underneath the bridge. Not a second later did I see the exact same thing hit the semi-center of the bridge. The memory of that moment haunted me again all over again. "… _It has collapsed… no word on injuries yet, but…"_

"Oh, God," I muttered, turning away from the screen. My eyes landed on yet another LCD screen, this time it was a shot of something waddling its way between the spire-illuminated building and the adjacent buildings next to it. I couldn't get a clear look at it, just the weird texture of this bowed shape the helicopter spotlight was focusing on. "… _We continue now with our breaking news story, in lower Manhattan. We are getting some extraordinary live images here in the studio. For those of you just joining us, Lower Manhattan in a state of siege, in what has been-"_

The loud rumble of vehicles caused me to focus the camera outside the store; With a quick turn I caught several military trucks covered in green tarp, rolling down the street. " _This is a mandatory Evacuation! Proceed south immediately! Get out of the city in an orderly fashion!_ " A man over the loudspeaker commanded. A lot of the people that ran in that direction were turning back, fleeing from the route they once thought was safe. A roar echoed through the air, I panned the camera in the direction the trucks were going.

I zoomed in on the buildings, catching more of a glimpse of the thing that attacked us, but I still couldn't make out a decent shape. I slowly began realize how close we were to what destroyed the bridge and decapitated the Statue of Liberty. Oh, Jesus, we were close. Too close! I ran back into the store as the Military started to repeat their message over the loudspeaker again. "Rob! Rob, dude, we have to get out of here man…." Rob slipped behind the cashier's desk and rummaged through the rows of batters hanging up on the shelf.

"We need to go! There's some serious  _shit_ , going on outside!" I snapped at him. Rob ignored me and proceeded into the back of the store. We were all gonna die at this point! Oh, God. "Rob? Rob, please, man, we-" I stopped. The store was deathly quiet, turning around I found all the looters transfixed on a pair of television screens suspended above us. "What's going on?" I inquired breathlessly, moving toward them. None of the looters moved as I stepped in front of them and focused the camera on the TV screen. The angles the news were getting were amazing, I almost wish I was that camera guy, but I didn't want to get anywhere near that… whatever  _it_  was.

" _..Donna Martel is near the scene at city hall…"_

* * *

**(Marlena):**

I couldn't believe we were actually waiting out here while Hud went to get Rob. I mean, I just find it astounding that the three of us were standing here, while the whole world around us went to hell in a hand basket. Everyone else was taking the military's advice, they were leaving the city. Some people came to us, believing we were shell-shocked, and insisted we leave the city with them. However, a eerily calm "It's fine, we're waiting for our friends," from Jason earned us 'crazy people' looks and our potential saviors ran away. I wanted to kick him for saying that.

The temptation to haul ass was so great, but I couldn't leave Lily - my best friend since she came to New York - no matter how strong the urge to head for the hills was. Leaning against the wall, I watched Jason hold Lily, running one hand up and down her arm as he kept a vigil on the electronics store.

The way she tensed every time he moved just an inch away from her towards the curb was unsettling. She behaved like he was going to disappear from her life, in some weird way I was envious of the attention was she giving him. Lily didn't once check to see I was alright, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised given what she thought happened to her beau. Rubbing my arms, I pushed away from the wall and started to pace.

We were probably waiting another ten minutes when the roar from earlier came out of nowhere and scared the shit out of me. For one rare moment Lily released Jason from her vice grip and allowed him to move away from her. We followed him and spotted something vanishing right behind the building as the helicopter spotlight shined on it. My heart was ready to explode with fear when I saw that. In the corner of my eye, I spotted Hud vanish back into the store. What the hell was he doing? "You, guys, we have to go! We can't wait stay here!"

"We are  _not_  leaving my brother or Hud behind, Marlena," Jason snapped.

"I never said we had to leave them!" I snapped. Jason turned his head away from me, with every intention to ignore me. But I wouldn't be ignored, not now. I was scared, I didn't want die waiting for two people with a death wish. Rushing forward, I grabbed him by the end of his rolled sleeve. He turned sharply on me, glaring. "We can go get them! Please Jason, its not safe here!" I proclaimed, frustrated. Jason stared at me through narrowed eyes for the longest time; If I didn't get to him, then the distant rapport of gunfire did. He shook his head, his expression as annoyed as my own. "Alright, alright…come on," He said, starting to move forward.

Lily stiffened in his grasp but Jason assured her that she was coming with us. He gave me a brief glance before heading out into the street. I followed after him eagerly, my attention shifted toward the street far ahead of us, in the distance I spotted a tank vanishing around the corner. We crossed the street as fast as we could, I ended up gaining ground on Jason and Lily, entering the electronics store first.

As I passed over the threshold I spotted Hud amongst a bunch of looters, their attention was transfixed on the television screens above them. "Hey!" I snapped angrily, getting Hud's attention. The camera was focused on me instantly. Jason and Lily entered behind me not a second after. "What are you doing? We got to get out of here!" I snapped at him. What little I could see of Hud's face appeared guilty, I didn't care. "Where is he?" Jason blurted, releasing Lily.

"I know, that's what I've been trying to tell him! That's what I've been trying to do!" Hud answered me, sounding more than al little pissed. I ran past him making beeline straight for Rob as he raised the cell phone to his ear.

* * *

**(Jason):**

Marlena was hot on Rob's trail the second she spotted him. My brother never paid her any attention as he lifted the phone to his ear. "Rob! Rob! Rob, we gotta now, okay?" She told him, placing her hands above his arms. Rob jumped away from her, raising one hand in a silent "wait a minute". Marlena went after him, determined to get him to see reason. Moving past an usually silent Hud, I followed Marlena and Rob over to the illuminated display case. I released my hold on both of Lily's arms, my hand slid down her left arm.

I kept my hand around Lily's wrist to assure her I wasn't going anywhere. "Rob, the military's evacuating everyone. We have to get out of here," I told him, empathizing on every word. Rob continued to ignore us, he started to move toward the end of the store, ear still pressed against his cell phone. "Rob!" Marlena snapped.

Marlena threw something of a desperate look in my direction. If she was hoping I could convince him, I was doing no better than she was. Nevertheless, I found myself moving toward my brother. Marlena quickly occupied my space next to Lily. Rob took one glance at me and shot me a warning look, I ignored him like I always did and grabbed him by the arm. "Rob, come on! We-" Rob snatched his arm out of my grasp.

"Just stop it! He cried, raising a hand. "Okay? Just wait!" I recoiled slightly from his outburst. The desperation on my brother's face actually halted me. Regardless of what was going on around us, Rob believed Beth's message was important enough to risk his life for. We did as requested. Besides the rambling of the televisions in the background, the store was silent.

" _To listen to your messages…"_  Rob pressed the required number and was forwarded to Beth's message.

" _Rob! Rob!_ " Beth's panic-stricken voice struck me like a knife to the chest.  _"I can't.. Oh, God. I can't move! It fell… my apartment.. the whole thing fell on me!"_  As we listened to her cry for help, for Rob, the full reality of our situation came crashing down on me. You'd think it would've when Marlena and I were on the bridge, but listening to Beth crying and the indistinct sounds of her building crumbling around her, just made things more… adamant. "… _Help me Rob!"_  Beth's wail was cut off and silence reigned once more.

" _To delete this message.."_  Rob turned his phone off. He just stood there for the longest time, his arm tucked close to his side as he gripped his cell phone. I tried to think of something to say, nothing that came to mind was particularly appropriate; Trying to comfort him after that would be condescending. Looking back up at Rob, our eyes met briefly before he gazed to the others then back at his cell phone. With one heaving sigh, he shoved past me and proceeded out of the store.

"Rob, wait up! Rob!" Hud shouted, following after him. Marlena, Lily, and I chased after them. Rob was a ways ahead of the four us when I spotted him. It didn't matter how hard we tried to reason with him or how long we shouted his name, Rob continued to down the sidewalk. Right back into the thick of the disaster. I knew what where he was going, but my better judgment overrid the romantic in me. This was nuts, this was stupid, insane, and a thousand other things that could describe the suicide mission my brother was on! I'll be damned if I get out of this and had to face our parents without Rob, knowing I didn't stop him from voluntarily ending his life.

We must've followed him for a good fifteen minutes before he made a turn into an alley. Marlena and Hud were ahead of Lily and I. I started into a jog, determined to catch up with them. "…Message, and I'm my way there, okay?" My nerves couldn't have gotten anymore frazzled when I heard that. My legs felt like led, we were still behind Hud and Marlena, Lily's dazed state of mind wasn't helping much - I had to drag her along with me. Our current surroundings were unaffected by the mayhem ahead or behind us, with the exception of a new disconnected wires sparking against the apartment walls. There wasn't a soul for miles, which worried me.

"C'mon, babe, we gotta catch up," I said to Lily. For the first time since our reunion she glanced up at me, her cheeks were covered with drying mascara and her eyes were red with irritation (probably from the cosmetics or her crying). Placing a hand on the small of her back to urge her forward, Lily moved ahead without argument. With a blink, some semblance of self-assured and career driven Lily Ford resurfaced. Tucking her hair behind her ears, she nodded to me, her sniffles becoming hiccups. "Your right, I'm sorry," She rasped. I just shook my head. Lily had nothing to be sorry for, taking her hand again we broke into a jog.

"Rob, you gotta think this through man," Hud pleaded. "Okay? Beth lives in Midtown, alright? Midtown is that way-"

"Will you wait up!" Marlena proclaimed, her feet were wobbling as she tried to keep up with Hud and Rob's pace. Lily and I fell in step with her. "-Do you know what else is in Midtown? Some pretty  _horrific shit_  is in Midtown!" Hud finished with his usual verbal grace. "Guys, this is insane!" Marlena shifted her attention between myself and Lily to Rob. She was like a cat undecided on which fly to catch first. She started to use her hands to get her point across as we gained on Rob and Hud fell behind. "We're not going to go near that thing! Okay? We are not going into the middle of the city!"

"No,  _we're_  not," Rob answered, finally turning to face us. "Your not coming with me. Look." He pointed to the another alleyway path, automatically we all leaned forward to see what he was pointing at. Across from us on another sidewalk were rows of people, following after what I believed to be ambulance from the flashing lights head of them. But the voice on the bullhorn was obviously someone involved with the army, leading them to safety. "Fall in with the military, fall in with the crowd. Let them get you out of here," He explained, his voice eerily calm.

I did not like where this was going. Raising his hands in some sort of mock-surrender, he slowly began to turn around. "I'm sorry, I gotta go." We all stood there stunned for a moment, exchanging glances as if to make sure that the moment passed had actually occurred. "No. No, this isn't happening," I told him, raising my voice over the sirens and the man on the bull horn. "Your not-"

"Listen, this isn't me crazy. Alright? I know what I'm doing," Rob insisted.

"No, rob, you don't! This - this is suicide what your doing, okay? You haven't thought this through, you don't know what's out there!" I was practically yelling at him as he attempted to talk over me.

"I don't give a shit about what's out there! Beth needs my help, there's nothing more think through, Jason!" Rob shot back. As I opened my mouth to reply, Marlena made her presence known to us again. "Guys, did you not hear her message? I mean, even if we get to Beth's place there's a chance she might be-"

"Shut up!" Rob's tone was threatening. Marlena allowed her arm to fall back to her side. Silence reigned for about a second before I started continued. "What I am going to tell Mom and Dad when I come back without you?" It was random, I hoped the mention of our parents would shock some sense into him. Everyone, not including Lily, shot me a sideways glance, Rob stepped forward. "Would you leave if this was Lily?" My placed both my hands on hips and leaned forward. " _What?_ " I blurted, trying not to sound angry.

"You heard me. Would you leave if Lily needed your help?" Rob repeated his question. "…"  _No, I'd be doing what your doing,_ I thought. The words didn't come out of my mouth though, because I knew he hit me with the right question. I wouldn't leave Lily behind to escape, I'd walk through hell itself to get to her if it meant she needed my help. "No," I answered finally. I prayed Lily didn't take my silence the wrong way.

Rob nodded his head slowly. "Look, I appreciate your concern, but you can't stop me. Please, get out of here while you still can, I'll catch up you with later when I have Beth," He explained hastily. In a situation like this, the chances of our reuniting after separating was incredibly slim to none. There were so many stories of families getting separated in a crisis situation like this, the idea of letting Rob go off on his own in this mess was a frightening prospect. So I did the only thing anyone in my shoes would.

"Well, alright, then I'll go with you," I told him. The relief that was exuding from Marlena and Hud died right then and there. "Your not serious," Marlena glared. I didn't respond to her question, it was pretty obvious that meant I said.

"Jason, go with the others," He said to me. The small tremors going through my brother's body, as he bounced from lightly from foot to foot, gave away how anxious he was to get moving. I didn't want to waste any more time than he did, we were loosing time we probably didn't have. "No, I'll come with you, and the others will join the Military…" As I proceeded further into my plan, Lily voice drifted out of the background. At first, I thought I was hearing things. However, when I heard the words "I'm coming with you," repeated by Lily I did a double take.

"What? Babe, no, your not coming with us," I told her. Lily stared straight at me, her eyebrows were slightly narrowed and despite the red, watery eyes, she was serious. "Lily, you don't have to do that," Rob said. "I'm not leaving either you. I'm coming. I want to," Lily insisted. We all stood in silence, the sirens in the distance filled the air mingled with the distant pop of broken power lines and screams. Finally, I raised a hand and Lily took it without hesitation, wrapping her fingers around mine. Without one look to Hud or Marlena, we followed after Rob.

Behind us I heard Marlena shout,  _"Guys, this is insane!"_

* * *

**(TBC)**

* * *

**Authors Note:** I was having a hard time switching my brain back to Third Person Perspective, so I did both. Whadya think? Please leave a Review. No flames.


	2. Part II: A Path Diverted

**Part II: A Path Diverted**

* * *

The further they went into the city, the more people they came across. A lot of them were covered with dust, others a mixture of blood and dust. They stumbled past the group, eyes glazed over with fear and panic. Jason wondered if another building collapsed or if they were from the group present when Woolworth was destroyed. The mass of the crowd would increase or deflate depending on how many were grouped together. Rob was far ahead of them, it was becoming difficult to keep his eyes trained on him.

So many heads were bobbing up and down that Jason would loose sight of his brother for a second then spot him a few minutes later. Lily was doing a far better job of keeping up with Rob than he, Hud and Marlena were and she was wearing four inch stiletto heels! He would have the rotten luck to getting stuck in thickest part of the mob. Slowly, Jason edged his way toward the end of the side walk as Rob walked further out into the street. "…Wrong way, man!" A passing voice cried as he entered the alley. Jason cast a brief look over his shoulder, Hud and Marlena were right behind him. "Guy's, hurry up!" He shouted. Once he bypassed the crowd, he ran after Lily and Rob.

"They're leaving us behind!" Hud proclaimed breathlessly. "I noticed," Marlena huffed, picking up her pace. Her feet were aching from running in her wedge platform boots, the passing crowd didn't make things any easier for her. If anything was bothering her more than sore feet, it was fact that the three people ahead of her weren't listening to her pleads to go back. They were practically following the path everyone was running away from. As much as Marlena wanted to leave, she didn't want to be separated from her friends.

The duo continued to follow Rob, Lily, and Jason through the particularly lengthy and twisting street. As they did, Hud would occasionally check the camera. He turned it off earlier to conserve battery life (all they were doing was running from place to place), looking around at path in front of him made him wonder if he should turn it back on already.  _Might as well,_  he thought tiredly. Turning the camera on, he surveyed ground through the view screen. Looking up from his side Hud noticed Marlena was no longer beside him.

Automatically, he looked from side to side before spotting Marlena walking alongside Lily. "You know what I'm talking about, right? You can't possibly think this is a good idea," She said. Lily didn't answer her, she continued to stride semi-confidently down the street. Marlena stumbled a bit, Lily moved to catch up with the Hawkins brothers, nearly striding in sync with each other as they walked. "..don't' believe this _shit_!" Hud heard Marlena curse. She looked over her shoulder at him with irritated expression. "C'mon, Hud!" Without comment Hud picked up his pace.

Their journey across the city continued without much hindrance, Jason continued to pace himself as he followed his brother and girlfriend. He was regretting now seven plus beers he downed at the party; His head was pounding and his stomach was cramping from his awkward breathing pattern. "Rob! Hey, Rob, wait up!" He said. Jason turned his attention to the party behind him, Hud and Marlena continued to lag behind, shouting a plead to turn and go back.

Jason focused his attentions on the world ahead of him, as far as they traveled there was no turning back now. "Jason, hurry up!" Rob called over his shoulder. Jason heaved out another breath choosing to ignore the irritation behind his brother's words. Doing his best to ignore the cramp, Jason picked up his pace and soon was moving beyond Rob.

Ahead of them a body of people came running out of an alley, without warning Rob rushed head first into them and entered the alley.  _Damnit, Rob, slow down!_  Jason growled as he broke into a run. He ran head first into three people, they pushed him away and ran down the sidewalk screaming. Jason bounced on his toes waiting for the next opening, in the corner of his eye he spotted Lily vanish in the crowd. Finally, a opening presented itself to him, Jason raced through.

The number of people running in his direction kept him sticking close to the wall, he pushed away every so often whenever he got too close to wall, his cramp was getting worse. "Rob, Lily!" He called. They didn't respond, they continued onward into the alley with haste. "Shit!" Jason pushed away from the wall once there was an opening and started to run. He caught a brief glimpse of Lily when she stopped to let a woman and her children go by before she proceeded onward and out of his sight.

Jason nearly caught up with the two when a man ran straight into him. "Whoa, hey-" Jason's rushed apology trailed off as soon as his ears picked up on the man speaking to him… in a foreign language. The young man could feel the tremors of the man's shaking body through his arms. The man leaned up close on him, mouth moving quicker than Jason's brain could process. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I don't understand - please. Sir, I don't understand you!" Regretful, he wrenched himself from the man's grasp and took off down the alley. He came to a halt outside the alley, he surveyed the area, searching for Rob and Lily.

"Jason!" Lily's voice came from the right. Jason shifted his gaze, Lily and Rob were standing at the far end of the block, beckoning him. Nodding quickly he turned around. Hud had been stopped by the foreign speaking man, Marlena was trying to get him to follow her. "Guys, hurry the..  _hurry up!_ " Jason swallowed the profanity that would've came after his first sentence. He raised a hand in Lily and Rob's direction, signaling them to wait. Hud finally managed to get past the man, he and Marlena started in his direction.

* * *

Somewhere along the line, Rob and Jason got into argument over which direction would take them to Columbus Circle quicker. Jason suggested going through Soho and Greenwich Village, it would take them directly to Midtown West and 59th street. Rob on the other hand, opted to travel through East Village, Gramercy, and Midtown East to Beth's apartment complex. Granted, the paths were alongside each other, but Rob's way was shorter, even Jason couldn't deny that. A good hour later, the group was making steady progress toward East Village. They walked in a semi-row; Jason was in the middle of the group, Rob and Lily walked ahead next to each other, Hud and Marlena took up the rear, also walking next to each other.

Their progress was better, there was not a soul on the street which made their journey a little easier. In the distance sirens and machine gun rapport could be heard alongside the occasional explosion. To Jason, the sounds seemed to be coming from every direction, it was hard to discern a lot of the background noise, however. "Uh, Rob? Have you tried calling 911...see if somebody else can get here?" Hud asked. He was done trying to convince his friend to turn back, but if there was a chance that someone could get to Beth before them, Hud hoped Rob would jump at the opportunity for aid. Rob cast a glance over his shoulder as he answered, "Yeah, I tried!"

Suddenly, Jason snapped his fingers. "My phone! Babe, where's my cell phone?" He exclaimed excitedly. Lily could offer her boyfriend nothing beyond a shrug. She told him that she didn't remember what happened to his phone after they escaped the bridge. "I might've dropped it. I'm sorry," Lily said. "No, no, its fine," Jason waved at her dismissively, even though he was disheartened by the fate of his cell phone.

"Okay, well, what about the police? Fire department?" Hud continued.

"I couldn't get through, man," Rob replied. "I tried, I…"

"Okay," Hud interjected. "Its - it just seems a little-" Hud's words were lost to the wind. Ahead of them a roar echoed over head followed by a monstrous pair of lankly limbs that appeared from behind the buildings. "Oh Shit!" Hud proclaimed, terrified. The group stumbled to a halt, with the exception of Jason who tripped over his feet and fell down. A second barley went past before a rocket flew overhead, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake. Lily and Rob ducked, dropping to the ground. Jason whipped around and nearly pissed himself. The military was coming right at them, weapons hot and firing straight at the creature! They appeared oblivious to their presence, however.

"Oh, fuck!" Jason cried. Rob and Lily made a run for it towards the sidewalk. Marlena slipped across the street trying to escape the oncoming soldiers and the tank. "Oh, Shit! Oh, God!" Hud turned away from the army and dashed the nearest available shelter. Jason was the last to flee the street. Willing his paralyzed muscles to obey him, Jason scrambled for the space between the two vans as the soldiers came up on him, ignoring the frantic cries of his girlfriend. Falling down across from Hud, he threw himself against the bumper of the vehicle and pressed his hands to his ringing ears. His stomach clutched up in reaction to his rapid intake of breath, his heart was beating quicker than he could even imagine.

This was nuts! How the hell did he end up a position like this? In the middle of a crossfire between the enemy and allies? Soldiers filed past them on the sidewalk and street, shouting orders like madmen. His body twitched with every fire of a gun, opening his eyes he watched as the tank rolled past them and fired its cannon. It moved on, several soldiers took its place. They fired the FGM-148 Javelins at the creature before moving ahead as well. Explosions rang out and a completely different roar emitted from the creature. Soon the entire brigade left his line of sight, he focused on Rob, Lily, and Marlena hiding down in a incline. Rob started to climb up the stairway, Marlena tried to pull Rob back down into the incline, he resisted her meager attempts to pull him back down. "Rob! Rob! Hey, Rob!" Hud screamed over the chaos. Rob shuffled over to the edge of the car and started to point forward. "Hud… son… gonna….is way!" Both men shook their head in confusion, what was he trying to say?

"We - I can't hear you!" Jason shouted at the top of his lungs. " _ **Subway!**_ " Rob shouted again. Hud shouted out his confusion to his friend, Rob did not try to clarify. Instead he moved back over Lily and Marlena, he began to coax them out of their hiding space. Lily was the first to rise from her space, she gripped Rob's arm to steady herself while Marlena climbed back onto the sidewalk.  _What the hell are they about to do?_ Jason thought panicked. Without a word Marlena grabbed Lily's hand and hurried past Rob, Jason's eye widened with fear. "Lily! No!" He screamed. _Their crazy!_

Rob was pocketing his cell phone when he started to beckon his brother and friend toward him. "Come on! Come on!" His yelling was barely heard, but Jason and Hud got the general jest of his body language. Jason nodded to himself, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Shooting on brief look at Hud, Jason grabbed the young man by the shoulder and propelled him forward. "Move it, Hud!" He shouted jumping into the fray. Hud watched Jason disappear around the car, it was his turn now. "Oh shit! This shit is crazy dude!" He was screaming to himself as he righted the camera.

He followed after the others, watching as the air was set afire by RPG's and automatic gunfire aimed toward the roaring creature. They bounded across the sidewalk toward the Spring Street station entrance, Lily was the first to reach the stairs when its foot came crashing down - just a few feet away from her. She made her way down the stairs without incident, followed closely by Marlena and Rob. Jason used the light fixture to propel himself down the stairs faster, he tripped over his pants legs as he hurried down the stairs.

Another roar echoed overhead, Jason grabbed the railing to steady his wobbly legs. Acting on pure instinct, he turned to get a glimpse of the creature terrorizing them. His stomach dropped. Surrounded by fire, the beast looked like nothing he'd ever seen before. Imaginative or otherwise. Large onyx eyes that reflected everything, stared into nothing. Jagged teeth and forked tongue sticking out of a rectangle shaped mouth, slick skin that went unaffected by the military barrage and a roar that stilled the very air around him.

A rouge grenade exploded right next to the lamp post, the creature vanished in the fire and smoke. In the midst of the chaos, he had no time to move away from Hud before he tripped down the stairs, crashing into him. They fell backward, for the second time that night Jason was knocked senseless. Both men went tumbling down the stairs in a tangled heap of limbs, Jason cried out in pain as his body smacked against the concrete stair edges several times. The world stopped spinning abruptly, Jason's body was the unfortunate cushion to break Hud's fall. "Hud! Jason!" Rob's voice sounded so distant in Jason's ears, he believed him be miles away.

Rob raced toward the two fallen men, reaching over he pulled Hud off his brother. "Hud! You okay, man?" He asked. Hud nodded shakily moving forward, Jason was struggling to pull himself off the ground when Rob assisted him. "I'm okay…," Jason wheezed, stumbling. Rob ignored his brother's pitiful rebuke against assistance and helped him over to the ticket validation machine. With trembling legs, they hoisted themselves over the bars and resumed running. They made haste toward the others, now hunched over or sitting on the ground, out of breath. Jason's vision steadily returned him, he stood upright a little more.

Suddenly his stomach heaved violently, he gagged on the bile that reached his throat so quickly. Rob nearly stopped when his brother twitched in his grasp. "Let.. ugh… Jesus," Jason pushed away from his brother and made a dash for the edge of the platform. He made it half way there when he started to vomit. He flinched in disgust at the sight of his own half-digested food splattered on the ground, another unpleasant upheaval had him focusing on aiming the bile over the edge of the platform. Falling to his knees, he braced his stomach with one hand and continued to vomit.

Across from him, Rob and the others, with the exception of Hud, were trying to pull themselves together. "Dude, what the hell was that?" The armature cameraman cried. They shook their heads, breathlessly blurting out their answers at the same time. Scared out their minds, the young men and women sat in a semi-circle, listening to the battle rage above them and the eldest of their group vomit. The lights flickered with every tremor of an explosion, dust drifted down from the ceiling in like waterfalls. Lily flinched when a light sprinkle of dust fell on head, stepping out of the line of dust she made her way over to Jason.

The putrid smell of beer and digested food was almost too strong to bear, placing a hand over her mouth she moved over to Jason's side. By this time, Jason was dry heaving and choking on the acid taste left in his mouth. "Jason?" Lily inquired, lowering herself to his level. Jason glanced up at Lily in question, wiping his mouth with his sleeve he crawled away from the edge. "I think I drank too much… or something," Jason coughed. "Sorry." Lily nodded in silent understanding, grabbing his vomit-free sleeve she helped up onto his feet. Jason wanted to shrug her off, but her touch was far too comforting to his frazzled nerves, so he let her hand remain on his arm.

Marlena was still on the ground sobbing, "Oh, my God.. I dunno, what-" over and over to herself as she struggled to get herself together. She barely took notice of Rob moving away from them. Jason on the other hand watched his brother with anxiety. He could see the wheels turning in Rob's head as he peered into the dark of the subway tunnel and glanced at the sign above his head. Rob was making his way back to them when Hud stood up, checking the camera for any damage. Rob regarded the sign again before looking toward his friends. "Okay, this is good.. We can just … cross to the other side…"

Jason's heart skipped a beat at the very notion his brother was presenting and judging by the near flabbergasted expressions on Hud and Lily's faces, he wasn't alone. "No, Rob, we not going anywhere. We were almost  _killed_  out there!" Jason yelled, his sore throat straining.

"…And wait for there to be a lull… and we can just-" Rob continued, the panic in his voice becoming more apparent. He was so desperate to get to Beth that he was willing to put them and as well himself in unnecessary danger to do so. "Rob, there's not going to be a lull! The air caught fire!" Hud shouted. Jason watched his brother's mouth clamp shut in surprise, he was even a little surprised. Hud wasn't known for angry outbursts, which isn't say they never happened, but when they did they surprised the offender(s). Rob stared at his friend in disbelief. "I... we have to get to her," He said. There was so much blame reflecting in Rob's eyes, that Jason could've mistaken it for tears. Groaning, Jason pulled himself out of Lily's grasp and proceeded over to Marlena, who remained on the floor.

"Listen to me, Rob, we are with you man, okay? But.. seriously, you gotta listen to what's going out there," Hud said. As if on cue several explosions went off above them, causing the group to glance upward. The lights flickered on and off from the tremors disrupting the electrical currents. Lily closed the short distance between them, placing a hand on Rob's arm. "He's right Rob. We have to wait," She said shakily. Rob maintained the blank expression on his face, he regarded Lily's ashen face, cheeks smeared by dried tears and ruined mascara, unsure if he wanted argue. He made brief eye contact with Hud before stalking off to the end of the platform.

"Hey, you okay?" Jason inquired, helping Marlena up off the ground. The brunette nodded her head slowly removing her arm from Jason's grasp. Folding her arms across her chest, she swayed a little from side to side. Jason watched her worriedly, he parted his lips to speak when the outburst of "Shit!" across from them and the clatter of a newspaper stand as it hit the ground, startled him. "Rob!" Jason snapped angrily. "Jason, don't!" Lily spoke up before the predetermined situation could escalate. Rob turned and glared at his brother, before sending Lily something of appreciative glance. All eyes were on Rob, but the young man ignored them and moved behind the pillar, falling to his knees.

… _Help me Rob!_

* * *

**(Jason):**

Unfortunately, the wait for the battle above us was not as short as we all hoped. It was a good fifteen minutes before we all settled down in random places around the subway station. Marlena settled down on the ground against a pillar, one knee against her chest, arms wrapped around her leg and her forehead resting on her knee. Lily sat next to her. Hud sat across from them, the camera resting next to him. I was so worn out from puking up my guts and running, I trudged over to the only bench-like seat on the far end of the station. I had totally forgotten that Rob was sitting against the pillar until he stood up to move to another place, I didn't try to stop him. He needed to calm down, my talking to him wouldn't help matters (we'd be at each other's throats before Lily could break us up).

No more than five minutes later Lily found her way over to me and sat down. I was hunched over, my elbows dug into my thighs while my chin rested atop the back of my fingers. "How are you?" Lily asked. I looked up from the ground with a tired sigh. I wanted to tell her that I hurt all over, every muscle felt over abused and ready to tear away from each other the moment I stood up again.

My head was still ringing from the automatic gunfire, explosions, and the two falls I suffered. And my throat, well, I was wishing for a cold glass of water. "I'm… alright, I guess," I replied lamely. At some point in our relationship, my lying technique weakened against Lily, I couldn't tell a straight lie to her anymore than she could to me. The only difference between us is, she made her secrets less obvious, whereas I have yet to learn to mask a lot of obvious emotions.

So when those words left my mouth, Lily just stared me long and hard. I caved. "I'm hurting all over, but I'll be fine. Honest," I admitted. "Your not hurt?" Lily asked, raising her eyebrows. I shrugged, sitting upright I allowed her run her hands across my upper body and tried not to laugh. When she was satisfied that I hadn't sustained any life-threatening injuries, she proceeded to rub her arms. I wanted to offer my shirt, but the pukey sleeve prohibited me from doing so. With a sigh, I shrugged my dress-shirt off and chucked it into a corner.

We fell into silence again. The sounds of combat were becoming further away, but the explosions sounded closer than ever, I found myself looking up at the ceiling and wondering if it would fall on our heads. Sighing, I said, "I'm sorry." Lily turned to me, her brown eyes inquiring. "…I'm sorry, about earlier. I don't want you to think that I wouldn't come after you if you were in trouble," I stammered, my heart skipping. "I would never leave you behind."

Lily nodded her head quickly in understanding. "No, I understand what you were trying to do. I know you wouldn't," Lily answered. I was relieved but the guilt lingered. Her slender fingers trailed across my shoulder, I shifted my gaze down at her pedicured hand then back up at her. We stared at each other for the longest time, I was confused as to what she wanted until she pulled me toward her. I wrapped my arm around her waist, closing the distance between us and watched as she laid her head on my shoulder. I pressed my cheek against her head and closed my eyes. As unsettling as the combat above us was, the sound was actually starting to lull me to sleep.

That is until I heard the familiar ring of Rob's cell phone. Hud's questioning voice brought me from the edge, Lily moved her head off of my shoulder, jarring me completely out of my half-sleep. Groggily, I blinked the sleep out my eyes as I tried to pinpoint my brother's position. Hud was now sitting next to Marlena, the camera trained on Rob as he moved toward the gated wall. Raising the phone to his ear, he spoke. "Hello? …Mom - hey," He said. I stood upright.

Our parents, I totally forgotten about them! Mom was sure to be freaking out by now. "No, okay, we're okay Mom. We're fine." He paused, casting a glance in my direction.  _What?_  I mouthed, walking forward. He turned back just as quickly moving off in another direction. "…No, Jason's fine, he's with us. We're being evacuated from the city right now…" Rob took another breath, his arm raising as if to hush our frantic mother. "Mom, listen. We tried to get out, using the Brooklyn Bridge. We were there right when it hit… please calm down, we're fine!" Rob's face contorted with mild pain and exasperation, Mom was really chewing his ear off. He moved the phone away from his ear with a frustrated sigh, without warning he tossed the phone in my direction. I caught the phone with little difficulty, raising it to my ear I caught the tail end my mother's triad. "…Put your bother on, Rob!"

"Mom?" I spoke uncertainly into the phone.

"Jason? Jason, Oh my God, are you alright? You boys hurt?" Mom blurted, relieved. Did she think Rob was lying to her about our situation? She always did need more convincing than Dad, especially if either of us were in trouble (or hurt). Scratching the back of my head I cast an uneasy glance in Lily's direction as she walked past me. "No, we're fine Mom. Rob's pretty much explained everything to you. Everyone's okay, alright?" I said.

"But what- what's that thing? What's going on, out there!" Mom yelled.

"I don't know, I really don't. Its some…  _thing,_ " I answered lamely. It was the best I could come up with. I didn't know what that  _thing_  was, I couldn't put into words at the moment. My mind was still debating on whether or not I just didn't dream this shit of a situation up and was stuck in a never-ending nightmare. I spoke to her for a few more minutes, just listening to her cry out her 'worries', before hanging up on her when she left the phone unattended to get Dad. Making sure the nokia was completely off I tossed the phone back to Rob, who snatched it out of the air. Running my hands through my hair, I walked back over to the bench and leaned over. A thousand different emotions were rushing at me at once, I was ready to crack. I could feel it.

The sound of footfalls approaching kept a rising sob down inside my chest, only it wasn't the familiar click of Lily's heels. Peeking over my hands I caught the top of Rob's head as he kneeled down in front of me. "Hey, are you okay, man?" Rob asked, genuinely worried.  _That's the million dollar question, isn't it?_ I thought wryly. Lowering my hands away from my face, I flashed him a weak grin, my eyes downcast. "I'm fine, Rob," I replied. It was a lie, of course (maybe he even knew that), but the answer satisfied my brother.

* * *

"…This is a good idea…"

"We'll just go through the tunnel-,"

"No, this is a good idea,"

Jason found himself opening his eyes for the second time that night.  _When did I fall asleep?_ He thought, bewildered. Pulling himself up he winced in pain at the pops and protests his bones and muscles were making as he attempted to loosen his limbs. Messaging the back of his neck he surveyed his surroundings for the second time, making sure everything was alright. The lights were still flickering above them, the fighting was still somewhere nearby apparently. Through the haze of sleep he watched Hud and Marlena stalk over to Rob and Lily.

"What's going on?" He said, a bit too loudly. Marlena continued to move forward while Hud focused the camera on the frowning Jason Hawkins. "Uh, I dunno man. C'mon," Hud said, waving him over. Smothering his irritation, Jason stood up and followed after his friends. He could hear the faint conversation going on between his brother and Lily as Rob examined the map. As he came up to Lily, she smiled in his direction. Jason prepared to ask why Lily let him fall asleep, when Rob stood up and grinned. "This is the six!" He proclaimed, excitedly.

Jason raised an eyebrow in question. "Well, what's your point?" He deadpanned. Rob's face fell a little at the response "Yeah, I don't think the trains are running right now, man," Hud voiced, failing to see what Rob was so happy about. Blinking in surprise, Rob turned back to the map. "Look. Beth lives here, Columbus Circle. We can just walk down the six to Lexington -"

"You want us to walk in the tunnels?" Marlena said, staring at Lily. Lily nodded her head, the ghost of a grin spreading on her lips. "Yeah, we can just walk the tracks, see?" She said pointing at the map. Marlena's disbelieving expression remained, they were out of their minds.

Rob ignored Lily and Marlena's conversation, focusing his attentions on convincing the likes of his brother and friend. "-and then walk down Central Park South," He finished, his finger trailing quickly across the glass-protected map of the subway routes. Jason and Hud nodded their heads, beginning to see the reasoning in Rob's plan, his excitement as well. " _You want us to walk in the tunnels?_ " Marlena repeated, louder this time.

All eyes turned to her, blinking in uncertainty. Marlena wasn't sure why, they were crazy if they thought she was going walk several miles in the dark alongside electrified tracks ( _assuming_  the power was still on). "Well, its either that or we stay here," Rob replied. Another explosion went off above them, the lights died out and they were plunged into darkness for no more than two seconds, when the lights returned Jason was in total agreement with Rob and Lily's plan.

He doubted the fighting was going to die down anytime soon above them. If anything it would get worse. "I'll walk the tunnels," Hud said, as another explosion went off. Rob looked to Lily who raised her eyebrows in agreement along with a nod, his gaze shifted to his brother. "I'm in," Jason answered. Marlena didn't bother to say anything, she was outvoted - all she could do is follow their lead and hope they weren't killed.

"Um, alright. Let's go," Rob breathed. Silently the group moved toward platform, bewildered and relieved that they were on the move again. Not to safety from the creature that lurked above them, but the road to Beth's high-rise apartment complex. Jason cast one last glance to the space they once occupied before following the others. Rob was the first to lower himself onto the tracks, stepping over the pool of vomit he stepped over the tracks and proceeded into the darkness.

"Oh God, this is distrusting," Marlena groused as she leapt off the platform. "Shut up," Jason said. Lily, who was struggling to get a hold on the ground in her stilettos, let out a cry of surprise when Marlena soared by her and landed hard on the ground. She rolled over the last track and stopped against the wall. "Marlena, are you okay?" Lily asked. "I'm fine," Marlena grumbled, climbing to her feet. She talked off into the darkness after Rob. Hud and Jason were the last to climb off the platform onto the tracks. "Guys, wait for us," Lily called. Pulling her heels out of the dirt she waddled over to Jason, taking his hand she allowed him to lead her into the darkness with the others.

* * *

**(TBC)**


	3. Part III: Tunnel Dwellers

**Part III: Tunnel Dwellers**

* * *

The first half a mile of their walk was spent in the darkness. Everyone was watching out for each other, using the walls to steady themselves. Marlena was unfortunate enough to run into Hud three times, the last time she was sure wasn't on accident. Rob's shins were kicked every other time by Jason, who's long strides were severely cramped behind his brother's conservative gait. After awhile, the group stopped in what felt like the center of the tracks.

Jason took a minute to regard the insufficient light above them; They managed to get this far by following them, but keeping their eyes trained on the track lights wasn't helping their sense of direction at all. "I can't see," Lily mumbled.  _Thank you captain obvious,_  Marlena thought moving away from the wall. Hud laughed at her commentary. "It's kinda freaking me out, you know?" He chuckled. Suddenly the crunching of gravel became prominent, Jason searched through the darkness for Rob. "Oh, I think there's a light on the camera," Rob said quickly, brushing past Jason. "Let me see…"

"There is?" Lily breathed, relieved. Rob grunted in response, reaching one hand out he felt around the general area of whom he believed to be Hud until he felt the edge of the camera's nose. His fingers fumbled around the surface of the camera he finally located the central control panel and pressed the button nearest to the edge. The tunnel was illuminated by the light of camera, Hud pulled the camera upward, blinding his friends as he scanned the area.

Jason came out from behind his brother, releasing Lily's hand. "Well, that's much better," He commented brightly. Lily nodded in agreement, wiping her sweaty hand on her baby doll dress. "So, do I stay in the back or lead?" Hud inquired, gesturing to the camera. Everyone shared a look then proceeded forward into the darkness. Hud sighed. "Okay, I'm in the back..." He mumbled, following them.

Upon resuming their walk, everyone remained silent. As much Hud wanted to break the monotony of their silence, he doubted anyone was in the mood to talk about anything, given their situation. So he remained quiet and documented. Jason walked ahead of everyone, except his brother who managed to match his pace, not really wanting to hang in the back anymore. Lily and Marlena walked behind them, while Hud maintained the rear. Aside their own breathing, the creaks and odd noises inside the tunnel were an odd sort of company.

There were times when Jason believed a subway train was active, but it only turned out to be something behind in the distance - something metallic falling down somewhere most likely. "…Hey," Lily's voice echoed. Jason turned in response, shielding his eyes from the light of the camera. His squint faded upon noticing she was smiling. "Do you remember that time when - you and Rob first came here and were looking for an apartment?" She asked. Jason shot a look at Rob who was grinning, he looked back to Lily with a nod. "Yeah, you didn't think I was "Hawk", because I cut my hair and shaved," Jason grumbled, scratching the back of his head.

Marlena turned to Hud with a curious expression, Hud shrugged; He was on summer vacation when Jason and Rob came to New York, soon after Rob graduated high school. "How could you not tell that it was him?" She asked, incredulous. Lily turned to Marlena with a sarcastic sort of grin on her face. "Have you seen him, without long hair and a beard?" Lily inquired, reaching for Jason's back pocket. Marlena shrugged her shoulders, he couldn't look any different than he did now. Jason caught her hand just inches from his behind. "Babe, I don't keep pictures of myself in my wallet," He laughed. "You do if I'm in them," She said, matter-of-factly, pulling her hand out of his grasp.

Jason stopped walking long enough to let Lily pull his wallet out of his back pocket, then he moved to catch up with Rob while Marlena and Lily huddled next to each other. Flipping through his credit cards, Lily finally found the photo she was picturing in her mind. She pointed to the fresh faced young man who stood between Lily and Rob, eyes focused elsewhere and not on the camera.

Marlena's eyebrows raised in surprise, the picture was at least eight years old - like Rob, Jason looked a little different than he did now. "Okay. Yeah, I could see the mistake being made, he looks really different." She paused, regarding his face. "He's kinda cute in this picture," Marlena mused. Lily giggled. "What?" Hud blurted, shocked. Rob stifled a laugh while Jason groaned, embarrassed. Reaching behind himself, he wiggled his fingers in the general vicinity of his wallet, Lily handed it back to him. Leaning over to Marlena she whispered, "He hates it when people say that," Marlena rolled her eyes.

* * *

A half hour later, everyone was beginning to feel the fatigue of their journey. Without a subway train to ride on, the trip to Lexington and Central Park South felt like an eternity. Their pace slowed considerably, Jason could hear his own feet dragging sometimes whenever his head drooped and his eyes would close. The cool spring air circulating through the tunnel chilled their exposed skin and made fighting their drowsiness harder. Hud tripped over his untied shoe laces a few times.

At this point, a conversation was needed to keep them aware, or they would never get to Columbus Circle. "Hey guys, where do you think that thing came from?" Hud asked. There were several shrugs from Lily and Marlena, neither of which were too keen on talking about the creature that nearly killed them. Jason and Rob on the other hand, weren't so quick to shy away from the subject Hud presented to them. "I haven't the slightest idea," Was Jason's answer. "I - I never seen animal like that." Jason empathized on his point by turning and shrugging his shoulders as well.

"Well, maybe it came from the ocean?" Hud suggested. Rob cast a wary glance over his shoulder. "The ocean, Hud?" He repeated. The idea wasn't too far fetched, but anything was better than what most would suggest. Outer space. "Well, why not? The ocean is big, dude! All I'm saying is, that they found a fish in Madagascar that they thought had been dead for centuries," Hud insisted, using what little information he remembered from a newspaper article he glanced at once upon a time.

"So, what? Its been down there this whole time and nobody noticed?" Rob said, disbelief still harbored his tone. Hud nodded his head quickly. "Sure! Maybe it erupted from an ocean trench, you know? Or a Crevasse!" Hud said, excitedly. Marlena shot him an inquiring look, Hud didn't pick up on his error until she was facing the other direction again. "..Crevice. Its just a theory. I mean - for all we know, its from another planet and it flew here," Hud added. Jason rolled his eyes; Of all the places the freak of nature could've came from, he highly doubted it came from space. That was way too unbelievable. "I think you've been reading too many comic books, Hud," Jason replied, rubbing his eyes. Hud frowned.

"You mean like Superman?" Marlena inquired, deciding to humor the young man, if only for her own entertainment. Hud on the other hand, was too glad to hear that someone was actually agreeing with his theoretical conversation, and ignored the sarcasm in Marlena's voice. "Yeah! Exactly like…" A beat of silence. "…wait, you know who Superman is?" He said, astonished. Marlena didn't look like the kind of person who read comic books. Marlena turned to him, brown eyes wide with mock-surprise.

"Oh, my God. You know who Superman is?" Marlena said mockingly, placing a hand on her chest. The sarcasm was so heavy in her tone that even Hud realized that she making fun of him.

"Okay, I'm not…" He started. "That's not fun-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I'm like feeling something here!" Marlena interrupted, jumping forward. "Are you aware of Garfield?" Hud stood in one place, trying to formulate some sort of witty response to Marlena's teasing . A minute later he found himself standing alone, Marlena was jogging to catch up with the others who were nearly enshrouded by the darkness.

"Hud, come on!" Jason snapped, irritably. Hud snapped out of his stupor. "Hey, guys, wait up!" He cried, running after the others.

* * *

**(Jason):**

Somehow Marlena's sarcastic "Superman" remarks livened up our group; Marlena was engaged in somewhat of a healthy conversation Hud, who jabbered on excitedly about various comic book titles he was supposedly helping get developed. Even Lily was speaking again -to me mainly, reminiscing on times before we actually became a couple. Some of the things she brought up were a far too embarrassing to remember (particularly my nervousness around her the first few years we lived in the apartment), so I pretended that I didn't.

The only person who refused to join in on the marginally pepper atmosphere was Rob. He maintained his silence, leading us through the tunnel. Maybe he was even listening to our laughing and each other's company, rubbing it in his guilty conscience like salt to a wound. Beth was the only thing running through his head, I was sure of it. The way his teeth were sunk into his bottom lip and the deep wrinkle in his brow was usually a sign of anxiety in my brother. I, myself wasn't doing much talking, I was content with listening to Lily talk about anything that distracted her.

"So, what you are saying? That Martian Manhunter isn't from Mars?" Marlena's voice drifted out from the background. "No, I'm just saying that a lot of people think he's from a planet he's not actually from," Hud replied, honestly. Their conversation didn't surprise as much as Marlena's knowledge of comic book characters did. Fashionista usually didn't equal Geek as well, at least from my standpoint.

"I just can't stop thinking about how the last thing I said to her was  _"good luck tonight Travis"_ ," Rob mused. Hud and Marlena stopped talking, turning their attention to Rob. Lord, he made it sound like she was dead already. I slowly moved my way up to the front, passing through the space between my brother and girlfriend. In the corner of my eye I caught Lily turn her head towards the sulking Rob. "She knows you didn't mean that," Lily assured him. "When I think of some of the things I say to Jason…," Lily trailed off. I turned to glance at my girl, both Lily and Rob returned the look seconds before I turned away.

It was no big secret that Lily and I weren't, as Jamie liked to say, "the perfect couple". The fact that everyone made us out to be one, or vice versa, always bothered me. Maybe it was the fact that we were openly affectionate towards each other that gave people that impression, so it was all the more exciting when we fought. We disagreed on many things, particularly over the fact why I can never hold down a job for long, but it wasn't the defining aspect of our relationship. We agreed more than we disagreed and I think that we reached a point in our relationship that we could get angry and forgive each other just easily. Sometimes. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Lily, knowing she wanted to do the same only solidified my feelings for her. Scratching the back of my head, I picked up my pace a little.

"No, that's different," Rob said.

"Why?" Lily asked. I was curious myself.

"…Jason knows you love him," Was his answer.

No one said anything after that. Rob's sour mood seemed to resurrect the dreary atmosphere that we escaped just half an hour ago. We continued our journey in silence, I continued to examine our surroundings through sleepy eyes, rubbing my arms whenever I got a chill. Lily offered me my brother's jacket, but I declined. "You sure?" Lily double checked. I reframed from laughing when I gave her my answer, she backed off and wrapped the jacket tighter around herself. As if to add to her warmth, I snaked my arm around her shoulders.

"Hey, do you guys remember a couple years ago, when that guy was lighting homeless people on fire in the subways?" Hud's question came straight out of the blue, surprising the likes of myself and the others. "Jesus, Hud," Rob mused, giving his friend a look. With the exception of Marlena, who continued to walk, Lily actually stopped us (she and myself) to shoot Hud a simmering glare, akin to the one she gave him earlier during her testimonial. Hud, shadowed by the light of the camera, shrugged, oblivious to his insensitivity. "What?" He inquired innocently. "Not exactly the best topic for conversation, down here," Rob answered shortly, turning back around.

"Oh. Sorry," Hud mumbled. We resumed our walk in silence. I actually bothered to remember all those reports on the nut who got his jollies off by burning the homeless subway lurkers. It was all over the news for months. Some sadistic part of me found it amusing now, but I kept it to myself. When they finally found the guy, he hung himself in the bathroom of his upper Manhattan apartment. Turns out he was a pretty "civil" guy, with a decent office job and a family that loved him.

I probably couldn't imagine their surprise when they found out what he was doing in his spare time. Pushing the subject into the farthest regions of mind, I started counting how many hours we had been down in this subway, when Hud spoke up again. "I just can't stop thinking how scary it would be a flaming homeless guy came running out of the dark right now!" Hud's voice raised in volume the second the five of us turned to glare at him, biting out "Hud! Come On! Seriously!" with exasperation at his persistence to continue the subject. "Okay! Sorry!" He apologized hastily.

We didn't even get half an inch across the tracks when a rattling behind us caused all of us to halt in our steps. I unwrapped my arm from around Lily, surveying the general area for the origin of the noise. Lowering my gaze from the ceiling, I proceeded to stare into the darkness behind us. Lily, Marlena, and Rob searched the ceilings before following my line of sight. The sound went off again, this time sounding more like something had been knocked or shoved over. It echoed through the tunnel, the sound becoming weaker when it reached us.

My heart clutched up and my breathing increased. That thing could not have followed us down here; That was damn impossible! "Whoa - what was that?" Marlena said slowly, raising a hand to point. "I dunno. Look, let's just keep moving," Rob said, nervously. "Yeah, good idea," I stammered, nodding my head shakily in agreement. Before I could offer my hand, Lily grabbed it hand pulled me along after Rob. Marlena and Hud followed after us. Our haste was renewed and I would be all too relieved when we got the hell out of here.

* * *

With the renewed force of fear hastening their steps, the journey to Central Park South didn't seem so far away now. Jason made sure none of them panicked (prematurely), and kept them calm, focused on their destination. However, it did not rid him of the deepening pit of foreboding that continued gnaw at his mind. The sounds he dismissed earlier were clearly something else, now he was wishing that he'd expressed those anxieties to the others. The atmosphere around them started to calm considerably, when -  _"Holy Shit!"_  Hud, Rob, Lily, and Jason came to a halt, turning to regard Marlena. She wore an expression of pure disgust and uneasiness.

"Oh, God, this is nasty!" Jason glanced down at the ground in question, a small army of rodents were scrambling across the tracks, climbing over his boots and themselves in a frenzy. One attempted to climb up his pant leg, but Jason bent down quickly and removed it. It squirmed frantically in his hand, squealing before he dropped it. The rodent scurried off with others. "Its just a bunch of rats," Jason said, shrugging. Marlena threw him a dirty look, Jason simply shrugged. It was obvious the rats weren't after the them, in fact, aside from having to climb over their feet, he doubted the critters even knew they there. "They're all running in the same direction," Hud mused as the rats spilled through the space between his feet.

"Its like their running away from something," Rob said, fingering the back of his hand. "Yeah, but from what?" Lily asked, turning to look back into the darkness of the tunnel behind them. The amount of rats emerging from the dark was mind boggling, it was like entirely colony of Manhattan converged in this one place and were attempting to flee from the chaos above ground, much like the human denizens.

They leapt from off and onto all the edges of the wall, climbing over each other. Faintly, the same metallic creek echoed in the distance. That was last straw for Jason. "Alright, guys, we have to go," He said, gesturing towards himself as he started jog. "We have to go  _ **now**_." Rob watched his brother with confusion, but his mind soon reminded him of why they were stuck in the subway tunnels to begin with.  _Beth._ "Jason, wait, calm down, alright?" Lily said as she waddled over to him. Damn heels.

Jason nodded shakily, taking a hold of her hand he started hastily down the path again. Marlena and Hud shared a look of concern, what had him so on edge? "If I didn't know any better, Jason hated rates," Marlena joked dryly. Hud shook his head. "Jason's scared of iguanas, I think," Hud replied, grinning. Marlena did a double take, her eyes shifted from Jason to Hud, stifling a laugh in the process.

* * *

"Hey! How much further?" Hud asked, short of breath. He hoped they were closer to their destination. The more frantic-than usual squeals of their rodent companions, cut abruptly short, somewhere in the tunnel, made the group far more eager to leave the subway tunnels. Whatever was following them was getting closer and taking out a few rats along the way. A second later, Rob spoke. "I dunno. Look, let's just off on the next station," He said. They all nodded in agreement, focusing their attention on staying calm. Suddenly, from behind them a screech emerged from the darkness.

Marlena felt a tremor run up her spine at the very sound of it. The group came to a stop, turning once more to stare down the tunnel. " _Ooh_ , did you guys hear that?" She exclaimed, pointing. They fell silent, listening out for the sound. It reminded Lily of crickets. "What is that?" Lily whispered.

"Shh! Just listen," Marlena hushed. Small clicking sounds, resembling something a lone cicada would make, echoed quietly around them. Jason searched the darkness for the origin of the sound but could see nothing but the track lights. "What is it?" Hud whispered. Marlena shushed him. The cricking sound was closer now, deliberately quieter and definitely above them. "Oh man, this is the worst…"

"Will you be quiet for five seconds!" Marlena snapped at Hud. The armature cameraman fell silent, the cricking noises stopped altogether, yet the presence of something else in the tunnel remained. "Guys, I really think, we need-" Jason started to say, however, he was bumped by Rob as he hurried over to Hud. "Oh, turn on the night vision!" Rob said, skidding to a halt in front of Hud.

"What?" Hud blurted. Rob did not bother to repeat himself, reaching over the front of the camera he pawed at the buttons, using memory alone to locate the night vision mechanic. "Its right here, hang on a second. One sec," He repeated hastily. Hud steadied the camera while Rob's fingers felt across the surface. Finally, Rob appeared in the view screen, blurred by his proximity and the green light.

A hiss from behind Rob caught his attention, Hud glanced upward and felt his blood run cold. The creatures he saw attack the army (and that one guy) before on the news were hanging right above their heads, stalking slowly over toward them like a pack of wolves. Only problem was, that they looked like giant spiders, a crab even. "Is it on?" Rob inquired, staring into the camera. Hud couldn't answer, his throat dried out when the strange hissing/cricking emitted from the creatures again. "Oh..  _Shit_ …," He murmured. Rob stepped back from the camera, "What? Hud, what?" Rob panicked. Hud shook his head frantically. The creatures let out a shriek that alerted Jason, Marlena, and Lily to their presence just seconds before they broke way from the wall and landed on the ground.

"Okay, run! Run!" Hud blurted, turning around. "Hud, what is it?" Rob dared to question again. Jason grabbed him by the arm and propelled him forward, Rob started running along aside the girls without question. "Hey, let's start running! Just start running now! Run, run, run!  _Run! Just Run!_ " The pure fear radiating from Hud's voice was enough to get them running, the scattering of dirt and wild hissing behind them, however, was the better motivator. Jason was gaining speed over the others when one of the parasites leapt and tackled Lily to the ground.

She went down with the loudest scream he'd ever heard from her. "Lily!" Marlena screamed. Rob, Marlena, and himself stumbled a halt. "Help! Jason! Help! Help me!" Lily cried, twisting wildly under the creature that pinned her down. As Marlena and Rob fell to their knees, the beast snapped and clawed at them whenever they got near. Jason ran up and kicked the parasite with every bit strength he could muster. The creature flew across the ground and hit the wall, it let out a cry of pain that seemed to alert the other two.

A warble-like cry sounded, Jason turned at the last second. He barely caught a glimpse of its underbelly before he was tackled down the ground. The world tilled upward, he fell to the ground. The sheer weight of the creature alone was keeping him pinned down, he couldn't believe how heavy this thing was. It's jaws snapped hungrily at him, he kept it away from his face with his hands alone, while the rest of his body was left defenseless against the sharp end of its legs. Amidst the unintelligible screaming, his own included, and hissing, another body fell across from him.

Rob was occupied with fending off the third parasite when Hud was attacked by the other and knocked down in the same fashion as Jason. Hud struggled to escape, but the third abandoned its pursuit of the others and leapt over their friend. Through the haze of darkness, Rob watched as Hud was dragged across the ground, away from the group. "Oh, my God! Guys, help!" He screamed. Behind him he heard a pipe being dragged across the ground and quicker than he could react, Marlena bolted from behind him. "Marlena!" He cried. Marlena ignored him, raising her pipe she started to wail on the creature attempting to neuter Hudson.

She hit it straight on its nose, stunning it. Hud pulled his legs out of its reach, struggling to climb to his feet. Marlena continued to attack, watching as it started to fall over. However, without warning Marlena was tackled from behind. She screamed in pain as the parasite's teeth sank down into her shoulder, drawing blood. Hud fell back down in surprise when her blood splattered across his face, onto the camera lense. "Oh, God, Marlena! Marlena!" He shouted. Marlena continued to cry out in pain as the parasite attempted to rip her shoulder to shreds. Hud was trying his damndest to loosen the thing's death grip on her when Rob came running up. With one swift kick, he knocked the creature off Marlena. It went rolling over the discarded pip with a screech. "Come on!" Rob panted, pulling Marlena to her feet.

"Guys, let's go, let's go, let's go!" Lily screamed, waving them over to a door above the tracks. Rob, Marlena, and Hud made a run for the transit authority office door. Rob helped Marlena up onto the platform, Lily grabbed her by her uninjured arm and rushed inside, Rob entered next. Below them, the crab-spiders were scrambled past them. Hud started to enter when a bloody hand appeared on the rusty railing next to him.

Hud nearly died of a heart attack; Jason was glaring at them through the strands of his bloody hair, and struggling to climb up the short ladder. "Get inside, Hud!" He snapped, wheezing. Hud rolled inside, catching a glimpse of an oncoming parasite. "Oh, God! Jason, hurry up!" He screamed. Jason propelled himself up onto the platform, as he started to fall Rob grabbed a hold of his arms and pulled him inside. The parasite stuck its nose into the door, Lily threw herself against it smashing its snout against the doorway.

Jason and Rob rushed to her aid, throwing their weight against the door as well. The creature's shrieked and protested against the weight, trying to claw their way inside the room. Pulling himself off the ground, Hud dropped the camera and threw himself against the door, it slammed shut. Lily shakily reached for the door knob and twisted the lock mechanism. The scratching and shrieking was continued outside, they did their best to ignore it as they moved away from the door. Jason stumbled across the room until he reached a wall close enough to collapse against.

Looking down, he regarded his pale arms riddled with deep scratches, reaching down he pulled his shirt up. Compared to the scratches on his arms, the bleeding slashes across his stomach looked worse. Particularly the one his left side. Groaning he lowered his shirt and closed his eyes, wincing at the touch of the wall against his throbbing head. Lily sat on the couch, checking over her own scratches, bright red with blood already drying. "How are you doing over there, Marlena?" Rob breathed, regarding his torn sleeves.

Marlena just shook her head, biting the inside of her mouth - silently riding out of her pain, she looked up briefly to regard an approaching Hud. "Jason?" Rob turned his attention toward his brother, Jason looked up from the ground, blearily-eyed. Giving his head a shake he nodded. "I'm - I'm okay," He spoke barely above a whisper. Rob knew that clearly meant the opposite, shifting his gaze to Lily he pointed to his brother before resuming his search for a crowbar.

Wincing, Lily stood up and approached her boyfriend. He stood slumped against the wall, one hand clutching his side, the other hanging idly at his side. "Jason, come sit down," She said, grabbing his forearm lightly. "Come on." Jason obliged wincing a little as her fingers pressed against his cuts. She lead him to the couch without incident, he slumped down onto the cushion with a groan. Reaching over, she curled her fingers around his wrist to remove the hand clutching his side.

At first he protested, his fingers pressing so hard against his skin that he was afraid to move them. "Jason, you have to let me see - please let go," Lily's voice faltered for a second. Turning to face her he released his hold on his side, Lily smiled appreciatively placing his hand on his lap. Rising from the couch she moved to his left side and kneeled down to check his wound. Blood soaked half of the lower part of his  _Slusho!_  T-Shirt and the rim of his jeans.

Biting back an exclamation she slowly lifted the shirt. A gasp from Lily caused a hitch in Jason's breathing, pain rippled through his abdomen. "Its not bad is it?" He inquired, wincing. "Ah! Careful, Lily." Lily moved her hands away from the cut, this was bad. Rising from the her kneeling position, she moved toward the table. She grabbed up a couple of napkins as Rob finally pried open the Dasani water vending machine.

He emerged from behind the door with two bottles of water, unscrewing one bottle he sat it down on the table and handed Lily the other. "Are you okay, Hud? Did it get you, did it bite you man?" Rob asked, wetting a napkin. Hud shook his head. "No.. it didn't get me," He replied quietly. Marlena took the napkin from Rob. Raising her hand slowly toward her wound Marlena braced herself for the worst.

Rob looked away the moment she pressed the napkin against her skin, his stomach was turning at the smell of blood in the air. "Okay, this might hurt a little," Lily's voice drew Rob's gaze toward the couch. She was kneeling below Jason who remained sitting on the couch, leaning slightly to the right. Rob never considered his brother a "superman", but it was strange to see him in such discomfort, pale and withdrawn into himself.

Lily glanced up at her boyfriend for a second before pressing the napkin against the cut. Jason bit down on his hand to reframe from yelling, the water spread across his cut like an irritant, it was even worse when Lily started to wipe. She repeated process of wiping his wound until the skin around it was clean. Jason maintained his silence, his face wet with tears. "I know it hurts, I'm almost done," Lily coaxed, discarding the ruined napkin. Rob kneeled down next to her with a piece of his sleeve.

"How ya doing man?" Rob inquired.

"Alright, I guess," Jason answered quietly, wiping his face. "What were those.. those things?"

Rob shook his head, his body shuddered at the very thought of them. "I have no idea, man. They came out nowhere," He breathed, wincing when his brother cried out. Lily apologized quietly, fastening the piece of Rob's sleeve around Jason's waist. "Do you think they might've -?" Jason bit down on his hand again, he pushed himself off the edge of the couch and stood. His legs wobbled, the blood rushing to his head disoriented him. Rob nodded his head, moving to allow Lily passage. "Yeah, they probably followed that  _other_  thing," Rob replied, watching him. "Maybe you should sit back down…"

"I'm fine, I'm okay," Jason interrupted firmly.

**(TBC)**


	4. Part IV: The 59TH

**Part IV: The 59** **TH**

* * *

"Maybe you should sit down…," Rob started. Jason waved him off dismissively. "I'm fine, I'm okay," Jason interrupted firmly, running a hand through his hair. His fingers glided across his scalp until he reached the back, his index finger rubbed against the throbbing part of his head. Pain spiked through his skull, he cried out. Everyone jumped in surprise, throwing wary looks in the elder Hawkins' direction.

He ignored them and focused on keeping himself conscious. How hard did he hit his head, or did that thing scratch him? Untangling his fingers from his hair, Jason looked down to find his hand covered in blood. Across from him, Lilly paled at the sight of blood on his hand. "Jason?" Lily and Rob said in unison. Jason glanced away from his hand to regard Lily, no sooner than he did the room blurred.

Rob rushed forward and caught his brother before he hit the ground, only to wind up falling himself. Hud watched the scene from the table and started to get up, but a wave of Lily's hand stayed him. Jason let out a hoarse laugh, his head throbbed at the sound of it. "Think I stood up… a little too fast," He said. "No, I think you've got a concussion," Rob rebuked, struggling to his feet. "Here, let me help," Lily mumbled. Lily grabbed Jason's right arm, aiding both men to their feet. Rob thanked her silently and with little trouble they made it back to the couch with Jason.

Jason adjusted himself on the couch, so that he was leaning against the back. He suffered in silence as Lily checked his head, hissing when her fingers brushed against his injury. Lily bit her lip worriedly; The cut didn't look too bad, though the blood seeping from it said otherwise. "Rob could you get me some napkins and water?" Lily asked. Rob nodded and jumped up from the couch. "Stay awake, Jason, okay? Talk to me," Lily commanded gently, patting him on the face. Jason grunted in affirmative, pressing a hand to his forehead. His head was killing him. "What about?" He asked.

"Anything," Lily answered breathlessly.

Across from them, Marlena watched the scene with concern. "Is - is he okay?" Marlena asked hesitantly, tossing a bloody napkin to the ground. Rob nodded his quickly, grabbing up a half used bottle of water along with several napkins. "Yeah, he should be," He answered shakily. Marlena watched the younger brother curiously.  _Should be?_  She wanted to repeat the phrase but decided to let it be, Rob was high strung and she was in no condition to squabble. "If you say so," She said. Rob didn't acknowledge her response, he walked away from the table.

* * *

**(Rob):**

I'm not sure how long we've been down in this room, it feels like forever. In the short time that passed, I feared for Beth's welfare. I didn't know whether or not she was still alive, or if I would get to her in time if she was. Lily and I spent a good fifteen minutes cleaning up Jason's cut; Combined with the fall, that thing must've got of hold of Jason's head at one point during his struggle. Now that the adrenaline left our systems, we were tired; My brother was having a hard time staying awake, Lily looked ready to burst into tears and Hud - Hud, despite it all, actually looked the best out of the four of us.

Marlena's skin had turned a ugly shade of gray from the loss of blood and exhaustion, yet there this kind of ease on her face because of Hud; He kept her talking, distracted somewhat from her predicament. I, on the other hand, could feel my feet teetering on the edge of my own breaking point. At first, the tunnels seemed - and were - a great idea, but if I knew nightmarish creatures like the ones that attacked us I would've never suggested it.

_I don't think I would've anyway._ I would do anything to get to Beth, but the fact that I have four other lives I'm putting in danger just makes me feel worse for the decisions I made. Its my fault their in this mess, my fault they were harmed. I didn't try hard enough to convince them to leave and now their stuck with me.

Sighing, I rubbed my face several times to shake the sleep out of my system. The skin of my palm prickled at the stubble on my face, I shifted my gaze toward my left arm when Jason fell against me. Panic gripped me, turning around I grabbed my brother by the shoulders and shook him. "Jason, don't fall asleep," I snapped. Jason jerked in my grasp, his eyes flew open revealing his fatigue and dilated pupils. He pulled himself out of my grasp proceeding to wipe the drool off his face.

"Sorry, man," Jason mumbled, pressing his hand against his forehead again. I watched him wince. Out of pure conversation, I asked, "It still hurts?" Jason's lips pursed in mild irritation when he nodded, he wasn't too keen on being verbal at the moment. "Just stay awake, alright?" Jason opened his eyes long enough to glare daggers into my head, I raised my hands in mock-surrender, rising from the couch.

I walked across the short distance to the vending machines, Lily watched me over Marlena's head while she continued to apply pressure to her bleeding wound. Hud stood up from the table, fiddling with the camera. "Hey," He said, raising the camera up to meet me. I leaned away from the approaching camera a bit, Hud was a little overzealous with that thing. "Marlena's hurt pretty bad. You know?" Hud trailed off, lowering the camera from his face a bit. I titled my head back a little, I was caught off guard by his question; What  _were_  we going to do?

I needed to get to Beth, but I could still hear the chattering from those crab-things outside if I listened hard enough. The chances of going the same way we came in were slim to none. Casting a look over my shoulder I regarded the doorway behind us. It wasn't locked, we hadn't checked it so it was the best chance. "Well, we can wait here for a little while, I guess. Hope those things don't get through the door," I suggested.

"Yeah, okay, what's the next option?" Marlena replied huskily, wincing when Lily pressed against her shoulder. I sighed quietly in half-relief, walking across the room I proceeded toward the vending machine. "Well, we can try and find out what's out this way- maybe find another tunnel-"

Behind me, I heard my brother cough to cover a response up. "No, no more tunnels," Lily interrupted shortly. I nodded my head understandingly, I turned back to Hud. "Well, I dunno. I guess we try out luck up top," I said, finally, preparing myself for a negative reaction. The room was silent for a time, I watched Lily glance sideways at my brother who was sitting up a little straighter and meeting her gaze. "That sounds good to me," Jason said, rubbing his forehead. Marlena sat quietly, wincing whenever Lily's hands would shift on her shoulder.

"Okay, just to be clear, our options are; die here, die in the tunnels, or die in the streets...," Hud joked dryly, though I could tell he was serious about the stipulations he was presenting. "Is that pretty much the summing up of it?" He looked to us without moving the camera from its original position. I cracked a half-smile while I nodded. "Pretty much," I answered, then added, "But, well, we don't even know where we are. So let's just go up and look around," I used my hands to explain myself, a habit Jason and I inherited from our mother (who couldn't sit still whenever she spoke). "See if we recognize anything." I looked around the small room, everyone nodded slowly in agreement. We had nothing to loose, except our lives, by venturing out through the mystery door.

Lily bent over Marlena's shoulder, asking, "Do you think you'll be able to walk?" Marlena mumbled something as she struggled to stand up, in the dim light of the room her pallor was looking whiter than before. "Hey, let me help you," Hud offered, extending a hand. "I'm fine, I'm fine," Marlena protested weakly, not fighting when Hud positioned himself behind her and gently hoisted her into a standing position by the waist. She moved her leg from beside the chair, slowly making her way from the table, Hud followed her.

Lily left Marlena's side once she was sure Marlena would be looked after by Hud, I watched her approach my brother slowly. Jason opened his eyes again, his face was haggard and contorted with pain. "Come on, Jason," She said softly. Jason nodded his head with a wince, I noticed he wore the same dazed expression on his face that Marlena did. I assumed it was from the blood loss or the concussion. He stood without trouble only taking Lily's offered hand when he needed to steady himself. Exhaling, Jason regarded me with determined blue eyes. "You ready?" He asked me. I nodded my head in affirmative. Without another word, we approached the doorway.

* * *

Jason watched his brother place his hands upon the door knob and the surface of the door itself. Slowly he turned the knob opening the door to a crack, light poured through blinding him for a moment. Rob peered outside for a second before opening the door completely, stepping outside the office. Jason followed closely behind, squinting his eyes as he attempted to adjust to the intense light change.

He didn't recognize his surroundings at first; the smudged plastic window protecting the empty booth should've tipped him off. However, as his eyes glided slowly across the tile concrete up towards the metallic booths attached to the wall and metal gates, Jason steadily began to realize where they were. "We…at - this is the 59TH," Lily and Rob murmured, nearly at the same time.

Jason stood up a little more, unable to believe their luck. To think that they would've overshot their destination (maybe) if weren't attacked by those crab-things was a little bewildering, he looked around the subway entrance in a silent daze. The scene was like something out of waking dream. Hud and Marlena came up from behind him, regarding the station with the same awe as well. "Can you believe it?" He asked, grinning weakly.

Marlena regarded the eldest Hawkins brother with half-mass eyes, she shook her head slowly.  _No, not really,_  she wanted to say, but the inkling of bile rising in her throat prohibited her from doing so. Turning away from the silent brunette, Jason's gaze was drawn to the path before them. Behind a pair of glass doors, a strange luminescent beam shinned through onto the floor. If he hadn't double checked, Jason almost would've believed daylight had arrived already. Rob cast a confused glance over his shoulder. "That's weird," He murmured.

"What?" Hud blurted, oblivious as always. No one bothered to answer him, with another verbal agreement concerning the light from Lily, they followed Rob over to the door. Jason picked up his pace joining his brother at the door. The light was so intense close-up that he was staring through his eyelashes. Raising a hand up to block the light he tried to get a better look inside, but the light was so intense that he could see nothing beyond the glare.  _That is weird. Who would put a spotlight inside mall?_  He thought.

"What do you think it means?" Rob inquired. Jason shrugged stepping away from the door. "A signal, maybe? For Help?" Jason suggested, grabbing the handle. The brothers locked gazes for a second, thinking the other could answer the question, then proceeded to open the doors. Rob entered first, shielding his eyes from the light as he ventured inside; Jason held the door while Marlena and Lily entered next. "Hey, dude, you go next," Hud said, coming up to Jason.

"What is this a democracy, Hud? Get inside already," Jason snapped irritably. "Okay, okay, jeez," Hud said quickly. Hud let the camera fall to his side, he walked through the doorway. Jason cast a wary glance behind him before following passing through the doors as well. The silent atmosphere of the mall set the group on edge; They were so used to the noise of various conversations spread throughout and area being crowded with people, that the overturned mannequins, discarded clothing and a single  _Slusho!_  cup lying on a pile clothes looked like something out of a ghost town. Turning away from the light, Jason eyed a blue dress-shirt hanging idly on a mannequin a few feet away from him, rubbing his arms. "Hello!" Rob called.

His voice echoed through the room, Jason looked around, startled out of his stupor. "A little louder why don't you?" He complained softly, moving across the room. "Jason, what are you doing?" Lily hissed. Jason gestured to the mannequin, grabbing the collar of the shirt he pulled it off the mannequin leaving him only with his grey shirt. Jason tore the tags from the shirt, slipping the soft cotton over his sore arms, stepping back onto the path. "I can't believe you did that," Lily gave him a disapproving look, Jason ignored it rubbing his chilled arms. "I was cold, sue me," He said, his irritation getting the better of him.

Lily chose not to respond to his biting comment, turning she moved to catch up with Rob. They left the men's section of the store continuing through the women and children section's of the store, catching trails of yellow-greenish liquid and blood on the floor. Jason regarded the mixing fluids with wary eyes. This place looked and felt like it had been attacked by the looks of things, meaning it was not as safe as he hoped it was. Behind him, Hud continued to document the ruined surroundings of the mall, keeping his fears to himself - when Marlena dropped out of his line of sight.

"Marlena?" He said, turning the camera's eye onto her. Marlena didn't hear him, she was lost in her world of pain, hand pressed against abdomen, fighting back the sudden pressure that pressed against her ribs. "Are you okay?" A voice asked. She glanced up into the light, brown eyes wide open, her head swam causing her vision to blur. A figure stepped into the light, Marlena recognized Lily's wavy hair immediately.

Turning to the right, she spotted Jason beside her, watching her with concern. "I'm… I'm really dizzy," She answered, swallowing roughly. "Do you need to sit down?" Rob asked. Marlena considered the offer as best as her throbbing head would allow; Rest sounded so nice right now, then she thought of Beth stuck in her apartment, needing help, and reconsidered. "No," She answered, raising her chin. Her vision wavered in and out of focus, she ignored it to an extent.

"Are you sure? 'Cause we can-"

"No, I'm fine," Marlena replied again, cutting Hud off. "She needs a doctor," Lily met Jason's pensive gaze as Marlena fought to recompose herself. Jason agreed, but he doubted there any of them were going to get any medical attention any time soon. Marlena ignored Lily's concern and started to move forward. "No, I'm fine. I'm totally fine," Marlena continued protest. Hud, Lily, and Jason started to converge on her following her stumbling movement, read to catch her at a moments notice.

Hud, Rob, and Lily continued to express their concerns and questions over her condition, Marlena soldiered on ignoring their voices. "Guys, c'mon, leave her alone -" Jason started to say. As the group started down the corridor, several bodies emerged quickly from the shadowed parts of the store, armed to the teeth. "Freeze! Don't Move!" The voices cried, surrounding them.

Automatically, the eldest Hawkins placed himself in front of the group, dodging a grabbing hand of a soldier. Jason nearly swallowed his tongue, he raised hands up in sync with the others, praying they wouldn't be gunned down by a bunch of overzealous soldiers.  _That was a stupid movie, don't do that again,_  He chided himself, biting the inside of his mouth.

"How many are you?" One man demanded, jerking the nose of the gun in Rob's direction. "It's just us - just the five of us," Lily and Rob responded shakily. Sergeant Pryce's eyes darted over the group of five young men and women cautiously before raising his hand to the radio attached his vest. "We got five civilians here," He spoke into the radio. There was a brief silence after the burst of static. The five nervous, awaiting their judgment.

" _Alright, bring 'em in,"_  Came the monotone response. Without hesitation the soldiers moved forward, separating the tight group. "Come, on. Move, move," Pryce demanded. He grabbed Lily and pulled her forward, Marlena wrapped her arm around Lily's to support herself; Her legs were loosing strength fast. "Okay! Okay," Lily murmured, picking up the pace. Jason moved away from the soldier attempting to grab him by the arm and jogged over to Lily, Rob followed his brother's lead.

Hud remained behind the group, the unfortunate victim of pushy soldiers unhappy with his pace. They moved quickly through the mall, past the blinding spotlights towards a tent. Rob moved up a little further to match the pace of Sergeant Pryce's pace. "Sir, sir. Please, need your help. We're trying to get to our friend, she's hurt. She lives right by here, at Columbus Circle," Rob explained. Pryce shot the boy a look, was he was crazy? Anyone outside was good as dead. "That is not where you wanna be right now," He said, lifting the tarp out of his way. Jason caught the tarp before it fell, allowing the others to go through.

He waited until Hud was a couple inches away then proceeded after the others, careful not to stretch his arms too far. "Do you guys know what that thing is? Out there, do you know what it is?" Lily asked hastily, balancing Marlena's weight against her. "If they know what it is, they ain't telling' me. Whatever it is, its winning," Pryce answered without hesitation. The open declaration of defeat shocked Jason, the full meaning of the soldier's words didn't hit him, however, until he and the others entered the makeshift triage center.

The smell of blood and disinfectant filled the air, creating a disorienting environment alongside the chaos of medical machines and screaming. A pair of men walked by him, carrying an injured soldier - his face and head wrapped in gauze stained by blood. Bodies laid on beds or tables, IV lines hung up next to them or sheets covering their bodies. "Watch out. Got another bite here," Came a man's voice. Jason and Hud stepped out of the way, watching as two men in huge blue Hazmat suits rolled a dead man's body away on a stretcher.

He was no older than 20 by the looks of him, dry blood ran down his face from his eyes, nose, and ears, giving his pale skin a ghostly appearance. The most noticeable thing about his body was his stomach. It was blown outward, flaps of skin spread out on his lower half revealing his intestines, which hung over the stretcher, and empty insides. Jason choked back a gag, his senses were overwhelmed. "Oh, don't look at that. Gross," Hud muttered, grimacing at the smell. Jason proceeded to breathe slowly, in and out, walking toward Lily. Her hand taking a hold of his own, shook him out of his daze. "C'mon, babe," Jason rasped, pulling her and Marlena along with him. Hud followed after Pryce and the others. Rob came up to Pryce when he stopped next to a desk. "…Please, we can't stay here," Rob tried once again. "We have.."

"Hey, not now," The Sergeant interrupted, only looking briefly at Rob. Rob's body shook with frustration as he was ignored and Pryce focused his attention on the approaching soldier. "Sir we have two, F-18s on route from Selfridge. Four more are arming up, maybe, 30 minutes out," The soldier rattled off, with the occasional nod of his head. Pryce grunted in the affirmative.

The group stood in silence observing the command center, overcrowded by paperwork, computers, and people alike. Soldiers moved from place to place, shouting orders or responses. It was truly a surreal experience. The room suddenly stilled when a middle aged man entered the crowded space, his expression was hard as he scanned the room. "Listen up people! Rack 'em and pack 'em," He said. "We're phantoms in fifteen."

* * *

**(Jason):**

There was about a second of stillness before the soldiers jumped up from their seats, moving frantically around the room like - forgive the terminology - ants. My brow furrowed in confusion watching them packing things into cases, throwing on their vests and shouting orders out to each other. Okay, they were moving, this was good - maybe we could get someone to help us get to Beth's apartment. Rob and I shared a hopeful glance.

I stepped out of the way of the guy they lead us inside, my eyes fell upon the oldest soldier. "Where the hell did you fine them?" He asked roughly, adjusting his vest. "They were in the tunnels," The other soldier responded, casting us a brief glance. I raised my eyebrow at his response, wondering how he could've possibly guessed we came out of the tunnels; My memory was fuzzy, but I was sure there was another way inside this building, unless they barricaded them.

"Yeah, we had to walk all the way from spring Street," Hud spoke up, almost sounding proud of our feat. The older man stared my friend down with a dull expression, he honestly didn't care where we came from - he was in a rush for some reason and our story was the last thing on his mind, I'm betting. "Get them ready for transport, put them on the chopper," The man said, walking away. In that moment, Rob's face fell and I knew they weren't going to help us.

Naturally, from a rational point of view, Beth was a lost cause, we were the ones in need of immediate aid. The grunt nodded and grabbed my arm, I winced as I was pushed forward along with my brother. He let go my arm, pain spiked up my arm without warning, I bit down hard on my lip to conceal my grunt of pain. Lily, and Marlena were pushed ahead of us, while Hud continued to linger in the back (as usual). "Move, move. Come on," The solider said, ushering us forward. Rob started to move against the path they wanted us to follow, I stumbled to a halt, given that I was behind him, trying to keep my abdomen away from his elbows.

"No, wait. Wait!" He cried desperately, raising his arms in protest. "We have to get to her! Our friend is very badly hurt." Rob was trying his hardest to keep his temper in check, his desperation was reaching its breaking point; He was going to crack. The older man continued to march forward, monitoring our progress down the hall. "Sorry, son, can't help you. Get them on the chopper," He said. There was not a hint of remorse in his voice, not one bit. Truth to be told, I was starting to reconsider what I had said to my brother.  _This_  guy was douchebag, a desensitized one at that. In the corner of my eye, I noticed several medics and soldiers coming toward us, intent on keeping us from getting to rowdy.

"No, but, please, listen to me," Rob shouted, as the man started to walk away from us. He made a reach for the man, but a medic stepped into his path and grabbed him by the shoulders of shirt. "Let go! Just listen for a second, please!" Rob struggled against the man, while the rest of us were apprehended by soldiers. The military was loosing my respect faster by the second. Frustrated, I lashed out against the man that grabbed my right arm hitting him square in the face. He recoiled violently, his eyes wide with the exact sort of surprise that must've crossed my face. Quicker than I could react, his fist came flying toward, I tried to move but the bodies behind me restricted any sort movement. He fist connected with my stomach, I doubled over instantly, my entire lower body was on fire. Fell to my knees, wrapping my arms around my waist while I pressed face to the filthy ground. Through the chaos of various screams, I heard my brother and Lily call out for me.

"Soldier stand down!" The older man shouted angrily. "Turn that Goddamned camera off, now!" I heard the camera get hit by something followed by Hud's protests against the camera being taken from him. I swayed from side to side, trying to focus on something other than the searing pain in my side; I could feel the warmth of my own blood coming through my shirt and on my fingers. A pair hands slid across my shoulders, for a moment I thought it was Rob but the hair that fell against my face told me it was Lily. "Jason, baby, are you alright?" She breathed into my ear.

I nodded my head quickly trying to rise to my feet. My stomach muscles protested the more I tried to sit up, through my struggle I did my best to ignore it. "No, no, don't move…" Lily said, trying to hold me down. I never had a chance to response with my usual "I'm fine" lie, one the soldier's grabbed me by the arm hauled me and Lily to our feet (she was still holding onto me when he grabbed me). I bit the inside my mouth, squeezing my eyes shut against the pain. I snatched my arm out of his grasp, pulling my dress shirt over my bleeding side. I stared the soldier down, he regarded me with steely eyes before walking away. Lily stood next to me, her arm hanging lightly around my waist. Rob turned to me, noticing that my bloodied hand. His eyes widened. "Are you -"

"I'm fine, alright, Rob," I deflected his question, with a short reply, moving my hand away from my waist. I didn't want to draw too much attention. Pulling my shirt closer to around myself I folded my arms, tucking my hands out of sight. The eldest soldier walked up to us, his face was contorted with raw irritation. "What the hell is the matter with you people? You are getting on that chopper whether you like it not!" He roared at us. "Please, we are not trying to cause you problems, but our friend needs our help," Lily stated. She was using her 'telephone' voice, it was low and non-threatening, but maintained the firmness she usually spoke with when dealing callers. "…We've been trying to get to her all night…"

"That is not my problem. Anyone who has not been evacuated with the Military, are more than likely dead by now," The man snapped. "She is not dead!" Rob yelled, moving forward. I grabbed my brother's shirt pulling him backward as soon the men around us started toward us. "Rob calm, down, please!" I hissed, glaring at him. Rob relaxed - somewhat - allowing me to turn to meet the embittered douchebag, I dubbed 'the commander'.

Taking a breath I said, "Sir, we have come all this way just to get our friend, alright? If - If you send us on those helicopters, if you take us out of here, then our entire trip will be for  _nothing_. Okay? Literally for _nothing_ ," I said, my hand sweeping across the empty space in front of me. "We  _have_  to get to Columbus Circle." The commander stared me down with his steely blue eyes, his frown couldn't have become a straighter line if it tired. Rob came out from behind me, eyeing the surrounding military personnel surrounding us. "All we want to do is to make our way," Rob said, earnestly. "I am not jeopardizing this operation or my men," The commander said, his expression growing sour. "You are getting on that chopper now!"

"I don't want your help," Rob assured him, with a shake of his head. Still, the commander wasn't hearing my brother's words. He was dead set on throwing us on a pair of helicopters. "You have no idea what's out there!" He proclaimed, angrily. Hearing those words leave the commander's mouth almost made me laugh. We didn't have to be soldiers to know what was lurking outside. We'd been caught in the thick of things several times, attacked by them in the subways, we knew what was  _out there_.

"I don't care what's out there, listen to me she's dying!" Rob cried, loosing his temper again. The commander made a rebuke that was lost in translation as my brother continued. "The girl that I love more than anything is dying and its my fault. She should've been with me tonight and I let her go and…" Rob paused, blinking rapidly to clear away his tears. "…and I know you have your hands full, I get that. But we're gonna go after her and if you want to stop me, then your just going to have to shoot me…" The deadly serious expression on my brother's face made me worry, worry that they were actually going to take his-

"Hud," Marlena's drowsy voice surfaced from the background, causing everyone to turn in response. Marlena swayed forward like she couldn't keep her balance, her mouth hung open like she was going to vomit. Her earring fell from her earlobe onto the floor, her eyes opened revealing blood red eyes devoid of emotion. To say I was taken aback was an understatement. It was the first time I actually bothered to look at Marlena since we encountered the soldiers. Her skin was a shade paler than before, blood ran from her nose and eyes, yet she seemed completely unaware of it. The way her fingers were pressed against her stomach reminded me of a vice. She stumbled forward again trying to reach for Hud. "…I don't feel so good," She said, bowing her head.

"Marlena…?" I whispered.

* * *

Like an alarm, everything around the five young men and women seemed to go off the moment Hud uttered the words, "Oh Shit." The dread vibrating in his voice reflected in the situation so well, Jason was inclined to agree. " _Bite!_ " A woman screamed shrilly, starting them out of their stupor. Jason watched as a female medic came out of nowhere, colliding with Marlena while she grabbed her by the arm. Marlena was shaken out of her haze immediately, she glanced around the room in confusion as she was pulled upright.

" _We got a bite!_ " A heart monitor went off rapidly from across the room, it was as if the entire room was put on alert by the woman's panic. Marlena watched in bewilderment, the two huge blue blurs reach out and grab her by the arms. She was barely aware of her friend's repeatedly asking if she was alright. Lightheadedness befell her, she fell her knees screaming, pain swelled inside of her stomach pressing against her ribs.

Lt. Col. Graff lowered his safetied automatic and stepping into the bath of Rob and Jason, followed closely by Pryce. "Get her moving!" He bellowed. "Get her to quarantine!" The woman backed out of the way allowing the hazmat team to drag the young woman down the hall. Hud watched through the lense of the camera in confusion, his heart twisting every time Marlena's screams grew with intensity. Where were they taking her? "What are you guys doing? Hold a second!" He shouted. Hud tried to move forward, Pryce blocked his path.

The soldiers around them ignored their cries of confusion. Surrounding the foursome, they each grabbed a respective arm and started to pull the group away from Marlena. "Let go of her!" Lily screamed, beating furiously against one of the hazmat garmented men. He turned to throw Lily off of his back, inadvertently throwing Marlena into the path of the Hawkins brothers. "Marlena!" Hud cried, trying to get from behind his friends.

Marlena fell forward heaving up blood from her mouth and nose, Rob and Jason jumped back in surprise, their skin prickled at sensation of blood. "Get them moving, now, Goddamnit!" Graff barked, vanishing in the frenzy of green fatigues running around the room. "Wait stop! Stop! Marlena!" Jason said, trying to pull his arm out of the soldier's grasp. Another pair of hands grabbed him by the shoulders, pulling him back. Jason fought against them to no avail.

"Oh my God, wait! Marlena! Marlena!" Hud continued to scream. The hazmat-men were moving faster away from them while they were dragged in other direction. Marlena watched through the haze of blood as her friends were pull away from her. Scared and in pain, she shouted the first name that came to mind. "Hud! Hud! Hud!" Marlena tried to call for him again, blood bubbled out from her throat, pouring out her mouth. Now she was struggling to breath. Her breathing became loud and ragged, she was choking as the pressure rose and she was pulled behind the tarp.

Rob and Lily were the first ones pulled outside into the service hallway, Jason struggled against them long enough to catch the final moments of his friend. Marlena looked as though she was starting to fight against the hazmat donned men, if only for a second. The next moment, however, was the equivalent of nightmare coming to life. Right before his eyes her body started to expand from the hips and her torso widened as well. her body stilled for a millisecond, and with one last ragged cry of pain, a burst blood splattered across the tarp. Marlena's body jerked violently out of the hands of her captors, falling out of sight as he and Hud were pulled outside. Jason's heart stopped completely.

"Oh, God! Marlena! Wait, what happened to Marlena!" Hud shouted, to no avail. It all happened so fast, Jason could feel himself fighting against the three men who continued to haul him away from Marlena, could hear Lily, Hud, and Rob (maybe even himself) screaming out their confusion and anger against the army. Either way, whatever edge he'd been teetering on, he had fallen over now. As he was thrown against the wall, across from Lily and the others, Jason allowed himself to fall. He cried, choking his own sobs as he did so.

Lily jerked her arm back and forth trying to get it free, she was pushed about by the three soldiers and Rob trying to break free of one man's grip. "Let go of me!" She managed to say, freeing her wrist. She slapped the offending solider three times on the arm before throwing her hands up against the wall to support herself. Pryce raised a arm in her path, blocking the counter attack from one of the soldiers. "Calm down! It Is over! It is over! There is nothing you can do!" Pryce was shouting over the reaming yelling. "There is nothing you can do for her now. It is over." He repeated the phrase one more time. Rob cracked the very notion of the words, pressing his hand against his face, he folded one arm across his chest and sobbed quietly. With the exception of Hud's quiet murmuring of "What just happened? What just happened?" silence reigned over the hall. Pryce watched the four warily before turning to his comrades. "Rogers, clear out of here," He said.

One man looked uncertain, perhaps suspicious. "You sure?" He asked. Pryce nodded, his expression never faltering. "I'll get them from the choppers from here," Pryce replied. The two men regarded each other briefly then headed back down the hall toward the chaotic triage center.

"Oh my God," Hud panted. "What just happened? What just-" Jason dragged his hand across his face, looking up to regard everyone around him. This wasn't real, none of this was happening to him, to any of them. This was a nightmare. Jason glanced up at his brother the exact moment the younger man glanced down at him. Guilt ridden brown eyes met angry, grief-stricken, blue ones.  _She isn't worth this. She can't be worth this… Rob. Oh, God. Marlena…_  Jason broke eye contact first, lowering his gaze the moment his shoulders shook with sobs.  _Marlena…_

* * *

_**(TBC)** _

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_  Sorry for the delay. Writers block occured and it took Rob Dougan to cure it. I hope you enjoy this one.


	5. Part V: Walk to Columbus Circle

**Part V: Walk to Columbus Circle**

* * *

**(Lily):**

Listening to Jason cry was something entirely new to me. Like anyone, his was different, his own, but all the same, "Jason" and "crying" didn't seem click with his persona; I've seen him hurt, but to hear him actually sobbing (or trying not to) was frightening. And it was over a girl that he hardly interacted with unless she or I came to see each other. Neither of which was frequent.  _Marlena_. She looked so terrible when I saw her; her skin was so pale, then there was the blood coming out of her eyes. What could've been so wrong with her that she had be to carried away from us, sent to a quarantine area?

I kept expecting Marlena to come around the corner with a sarcastic joke at the ready and dismissive comment when I asked her if she was okay. Marlena didn't come.  _Over for her,_  the man's words rang in my head like a bell. I only cried harder when I realized that I had to accept it. My forehead rested against the palms of my forehead as my cries were pressed by my lips, tightly pressed together. I bit down on the inside of my mouth until I tasted the copper tang of my own blood.

Behind me a pair of feet slid across the ground, I was hardly paying attention until I felt an hand around my arm. "Let's go. I shouldn't be doin' this shit," The soldier muttered to himself. I didn't move right away but I didn't resist when he pulled me away from the wall. I stumbled over my feet, wincing whenever my feet would bend sideways. The soldier walked away from me and over to Jason. Jason barely had time to regard the man before he was pulled to his feet by the arm.

"Get yourself together. Go, go," Jason sniffled with brief nod, wearing the expression of a kicked dog. The man ignored it, reaching over he grabbed me by the arm and ushered the two of us forward. "Come on. Come on." He pulled Hud forward a little before proceeding over to Rob. Rob didn't lover his hand from his face, he allowed the soldier to push him in the direction he wanted us to go.

We started down the service hall, through my the blur of my tears I watched as Jason angrily wiped his face dry of his tears with his free hand. Again, I found myself clutching his right hand, it had been become my security and yet it did nothing against the fear that was steadily rising again. "Lets go, come on," The soldier commanded, pulling me forward again. "Okay, okay," I muttered, quietly, picking up my pace. We followed the soldier down the hallway, the dim lights reflected the desolate atmosphere around us, the chilly air flowing freely through the halls carried with it the stench of blood and my own body odor.

"You gotta listen to me," The soldier said, turn his attention on Rob. "This girl, her apartment, its at Columbus Circle, right?" I watched Rob take his time answering the man, looking up from his hand he nodded. "Yeah?" He answered, as though he were dazed. We traveled hastily through the halls, several soldiers rushed back and forth through the halls, radio chatter echoing through the halls. The man placed a hand on Rob's arm. "Listen, if you wanna go out in this, I ain't gonna stop you. But you gotta know something; the Government is considering the Hammerdown Protocol. Their willing to let this entire area go," He explained hastily.

We all glanced up in confusion at his words, they were willing to this place go? As in destroy the city? My mind raced with fear.  _What did he mean by that?_  I thought shooting a teary eyed look in my boyfriend's direction. Jason's features maintained its blank expression, his eyes, however, were blinking rapidly. "You mean Midtown?" Rob inquired, sniffling. "No I mean  _Manhattan_ ," The solider replied, stressing the last word. Hearing those very words my heart skip a beat, they were going to destroy half of New York to kill this thing? "We're taking one more shot at this thing. If that doesn't work, their leveling the whole goddamn city," He continued.

I could feel fresh tears rolling down my face, hopelessness boiled over inside my chest and I my knees felt weaker than before. They were going to destroy the city; this creature - this monster - was so strong they were resorting to this? I squeezed Jason's hand in a repetitive manner, trying to get the feeling back into my limbs. He returned the gesture, pulling me close him. The soldier didn't seem to notice us in the background, he grabbed Rob's wrist and regarded his watch. "Your watch, it still works?" He asked.

Rob glanced down at his watch nodding in the affirmative, the soldier let his arm fall back to his side with a irritated grunt of some sort. We were reaching the end of the hall, I spotted the gated exit and hiccupped with relief. "Airlifts are leaving at 40TH and Park. Last choppers wheels up at exactly 0600. If you can it make there, then they can get you out," He said, scanning over all of us.

The expression on Rob's face was a mixture of relief and shock; I couldn't blame him; This man was breaking the law by allowing us to leave, but I was all too thankful to even care beyond hoping he wouldn't get court-martialed. Rob processed the information quickly then nodded. "Oh.. Okay. Thank you," He breathed, but the soldier paid little mind to his thanks. Grabbing his arm, he maneuvered Rob closer to the open exit. "58TH street's right there. Go, move. Move, move, move," He chanted, gesturing with his arms. Rob vanished behind the exit doors, Jason and I went after him, avoiding the firm hand of the soldier.

We traveled through a brief darkness, at the end I spotted a flashing light the silhouette of Rob's stretched shadow moving further away from us. I expected to hear Jason demand his brother to wait up, but he kept silent and continued to jog over to the exit, dragging me with him. "Guys, wait up!" Hud's hoarse voice cried out. "Don't leave me behind!" I stumbled to a halt, the fear in Hud's voice pulled at my heartstrings. Out of all us, he was more than likely feeling the absence of Marlena's presence.

Jason, however, wasn't feeling so sympathetic. With a frustrated sigh he wrenched his hand out of my trembling grasp, continuing onward. His reaction surprised me. "Jason?" I called, hiccupping. "I'm fine, Lily. Just leave me alone," He responded, shortly. Jason barely gave me a glance, he ran his hands through his hair, and walked on. Hud finally caught up with us, his sweaty face showed signs of relief when he saw me. "Come on, Hud," I said, waving my hand. He said nothing, just nodded and followed after me.

When we caught up with Rob and Jason, I slowly realized that our surroundings had changed; Were now outside the building in an alleyway. Rob turned around to face us, his face was starting to break as he spoke. "This is like a nightmare. You know?" He blurted, raising his arms up. My mouth trembled in agreement, my mind scrambled to make sense of everything. Ahead of us, I heard Jason stifle what sounded like a laugh but upon hearing it the second time, I recognized his choked sob.

"It all happened so fast, I really couldn't see what happened to her," I replied, my voice struggling to maintain. "I mean, did you see it? Did you see anything Hud?" I looked over to Hud who continued to "document" us with the camera, in spite of everything. "N-no…" There was a pause in his response, my back was turned to him as he attempted to continue. "Her eyes started bleeding, and then they were screaming she was bitten… she wouldn't stop bleeding… and then…," Hud's voice trailed off. My pace slowed. Turning around I found Hud fighting back tears behind the camera.

Sympathy overrid the automatic timer in my head, counting down the minutes to the last evacuation. I strode over to Hud and placed a hand on his shoulder. "…You okay?" I asked, trying my best to be supportive. Hud's brown eyes shifted up their downcast position, something resembling a smile crossed his lips. "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm okay," It was the most unconvincing tone I'd ever heard from him. I choked back a sob, placing a hand on my hip. From behind me, I could hear Rob approaching us.

* * *

Jason, at heart, was an understanding, or even sympathetic person. In spite of the flaws many would make a point of dragging up about his character, Jason tried this best to ignore them and made sure he was there when it counted. Now, however, Jason was angry. Angry at his brother, angry at the creature stalking them, and most of all himself for letting things deteriorate as much they had.

There were so many regrets in his mind, he wished he had forced his route on the others, he wished that he was somehow there to knock Marlena out of the way before that freak of nature bit her, and he wished that he hadn't seen Marlena die like she did. Her final moments continued to loop over and over in his head, her strangled scream was like a symphonic nightmare made especially for him. Things like didn't happen to people, it just wasn't fucking possible! Not fucking possible! He wanted to strangle Rob for even thinking that the tunnels were a "good idea". She was dead - most likely because - Jason stopped himself from completing that thought.

Thinking back on Marlena's trepidation toward the entire satiation felt like salt in wound.  _Suffocating,_  Jason felt crowded in and foolish. He pulled away from Lily before he could snap at her for stopping and just walked quick enough to gain ground over his brother. Now that the two were stopping to console Hud, Jason felt his composure crumbling.

Dropping behind the parked vehicle, he buried his face behind his hands and resumed crying. No matter how hard he tried, Jason couldn't pull himself together, it was too hard.  _God, please don't let this continue. Just stop off all it, end it. Please._ Inhaling shakily, he wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt and tried to get a hold over his sobs. The task wasn't as hard as he thought it would be, the rapid footfalls of Lily's heels snapped him out of his grief. Rubbing his face dry, Jason struggled to stand upright.

The throbbing in his side reminded him that he was still injured, grabbing the side view mirror Jason pulled himself into a standing position. Rob, Lily, and Hud ran past him. For a moment they didn't notice him standing next to the truck until Rob realized his brother was missing from their group. Blue eyes watched them growing further and further away from him the faster they ran, did it really matter if he came with them? Rob turned quickly so that he was running backward. "Jason, hurry up, man!" Rob shouted over his shoulder.

_It may not matter you… but it matters to Rob,_  Jason thought tiredly. He exhaled heavily, smothering any thought outside of reaching Columbus Circle, Jason bolted forward. The rush of air pushing against him stimulated his senses, he became more aware of surroundings. At this point in their journey, Jason wasn't sure if saving Beth was still important to him, but he would keep moving - if only for Lily and his brother. Marlena's death would mean nothing otherwise. Using the momentum behind his body, Jason caught up with the others as they exited the alley and ventured out into streets.

* * *

What shocked them the most was how terrible things had become on the surface, in such a short period of time. The city was in ruins, dozens of buildings were marred or reduced to nothing. Piles of ruble were a monument to what used to be. Empty bullet shells littered the ground along side the discarded bodies left for dead or forgotten; several corpses showed signs of what Jason remembered seeing on the dead soldier from earlier, inadvertently bringing his thoughts back to Marlena. Blood puddled occasionally around the bodies on the ground, other times it was running down into the gutters and manholes.

The stench of their bodies was almost too much to bear. It made the thought of the crab-spider still roaming above ground made a terrifying prospect. Jason suggested that they all stick close and keep a look out. To ensure that they weren't taken by surprise, the foursome stuck to the middle of the streets, only diverting their path slightly at times. The further they ventured into the city, the worse the damage became. Gunfire sounded off in the distance, alerting them to the proximity of the battle and perhaps the creature itself. Jason's body tensed, ready to run when the time called for it. Hud walked next to him, fiddling with the camera's Velcro handle. "Do you really think the military's loosing to this thing?" Hud inquired quietly. Jason turned to regard his friend, knowing man knew what the answer was. Running his hands through his hair, Jason replied, "I don't think they would lie about this, Hud."

"Well, yeah, maybe, but-I dunno. It just seems kinda impossible, you know?" Hud rambled. Jason watched him adjust the strap around his neck uneasily, once he was happy with how the camera's weight was hanging on his left shoulder, Hud glanced up at Jason again. "I mean it's the  _US Military_." The words that came from his mouth lacked their usual resonance, the first line of defense for the United States felt weaker - less meaningful now. They could beaten.

Jason scratched his nose. "It was bound to happen sometime, Hud. The army's not invincible," Jason replied. "I don't think anyone expected this though…shit." Hud glanced up from behind the camera in question, Jason was leaning forward, pressing his hand against his side. The blonde's face was contorted in pain, Reaching out, he placed a hand on Jason's arm only to have it roughly brushed off. "Hey, dude, are you okay?" He asked, never bothering to lower his voice.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Jason groaned tightening the torn piece of fabric around his waist. "A little dizzy, but I'll live." Hud lowered the eye of the camera on Jason's injured side. Blood had come through on the blue dress shirt, staining it, though it was nowhere near as the bloody as Jason's  _Slusho!_  t-shirt. He glanced up to see if Rob or Lily noticed the lag in their pace, the two were still walking ahead of them. "Are you sure, 'cause we can stop…?" Hud trailed off, realizing the error in his words. They couldn't stop, not if they wanted to get out alive.

"What's the first thing you want to do when you get out of here?" Jason's question came so out of the blue that Hud lost his train of thought. "Wah-what?" Hud mumbled, confused. Jason shot Hud an irritated look, the question wasn't a hard one to answer. Jason didn't bother to repeat himself, he started to walk faster. "When I get out of here, I'm going to propose to Lily," Jason replied. Hud wasn't sure what to make of that statement.

Hud certainly didn't know what he wanted to do when he got out of New York, aside from sleep forever, his mind too numb to think beyond dread. Yet, to hear Jason proclaim that he would propose to Lily was… well, it spoke in volumes. "You - you love her that much?" He inquired. Jason raised his eyes to level with Hud's, for a moment irritation crossed his expression before a crooked smile spread across his lips. "Yes. Yes, I do," Came the honest reply. Hud had no response. The two lapsed back into silence, focusing their attention on moving forward. They caught up to Lily and Rob, falling into a casual pace next to each other. Hud remained behind the others, keeping a watchful eye through the lense of Rob's camera. It occurred to the young man that he could've stopped recording at any time, focused himself more on getting out instead of recording every level of ruin that befell the city. Yet, Hud was compelled to continue recording.

* * *

Now just a half a block away from Columbus Circle, Jason was getting antsy; They had less than twenty minutes to get to the evacuation point and the constant roar of jets flying overhead made him wonder how much time had actually passed since leaving the department store. Paper rained down around them like confetti, landing on the ground in the blanket of smoke that traveled across the streets and sidewalks. An alarm sounded off in the distance against the background of heavy gunfire that continued to echo around them, making its position impossible to locate.

Jason felt his side burning the faster he jogged to keep up with the others, he was literally behind Hud now. _I really need a break,_  Jason mused, pressing his hand against his side. "Jason, hurry up!" Rob's voice echoed against the valley of the street. Jason reframed from responding, instead he focused moving faster and focusing his attention on Lily instead of his pain. Jason paused when Lily's jog came to a slow stop, watching her cautious body language until he saw it himself.

Jotting at a semi-quick pace down the street, was a white horse dressed down in flowing feathers, pulling a empty Hansom Cab behind it. The horse jerked its head in Lily's direction once then continued onward down the street. Raising up from his bent position, Jason started toward the others while they were still frozen in one place. Passing Hud, he came up beside Lily. She regarded him quietly going over every detail of his dirty face, he said nothing to her and kept his gaze focused on his feet. Rob watched the horse until it was out of his line of sight, casting a look over his shoulder he gestured to the others and took off jogging. They followed after him, moving quickly across the street.

Lily decided to be the one to break the ice. "…H-how are you?" She asked. Jason, who was struggling to regulate his breathing, run and pretend he wasn't in pain at the same time, raised an eyebrow. It was a question that seemed be the only thing they were capable of asking each other (or anyone else), a question Jason was now tired of answering. He honestly didn't know what to say outside of "Fine", which was an obvious lie. He was tired, hurt, and angry, for multiple reasons. He would express it to Lily, but didn't want the last thing he said to her to be so …angry.

Regret wasn't an emotion he wanted to be consumed by if they died. Swallowing nervously, he shook his head. "I'm not okay, Lily," Jason responded finally, kicking himself when he felt his eyes stinging. The astonished expression on his girlfriend's face had his brain calculating what to say next. As Lily scrambled to respond, he said, "Its not about being hurt…okay? I'm fine - for the most part," Jason huffed, slowing his gait down. "It just…" Turning to face her, he grasped her hand tightly. Lily waited for an answer, hoping that with it, her constant worrying over him would diminish as well. Yet as they ran, silence reigned over him and Lily waited for fifteen more minutes before realizing that he was not going to answer. Not unless she pushed him. "Jason, please, tell me," She panted.

"Oh my God... Oh, my God…," Rob's voice drifted out from ahead of them, distracting Lily and Jason from their conversation. Lily watched Jason bolt away from her, the protective streak in him overriding all thoughts, except getting to his brother. The dust seem to part around his feet as he ran and vanished around bus. "Oh, my God.  _Shit!_ " The distress in Rob's voice was so clear. Hud and Lily ran across the street, passing an abandoned bus where they found Rob and Jason standing in a field of scattered debris. Dust floated above the ground, traveling slowly like clouds on the wind. "What? Rob, what?" Hud started to ask. Hud panned the camera around the desolate area up toward the Time Warner Center. The blood in Hud's veins ran cold at the sight before him. The second tower was leaning against the first in such a manner, he was surprised the entire structure hadn't collapsed on itself.

Zooming in on the semi center of the building, Hud could see jagged pieces of metal and concrete shifting, small pebbles of dust falling out of his line of sight. "Rob, that's not Beth's place is it? Is that Beth's apartment? Rob?" He rambled, breathless. Rob lowered his hands away from his face, still unable to process what he was seeing. "Tell me that's not her place," Hud said. "That's her place, yeah," Rob answered. Hud's stomach twisted in knots at the confirmation; Rob had to be fucking with his head right now. "Oh, shit," He muttered to himself as Rob and the others ran ahead into the center of Columbus Circle.

* * *

**(Jason):**

I gazed up at the semi-destroyed tower of the Time Warner Center, strangely calm. Despite my disbelief at the circumstances, I realized that nothing about this journey of ours was going to be easy. We finally made it to Columbus Circle, but now we face a new obstacle; Getting into the complex and reaching Beth's apartment - wherever that was. Turning to Rob, I pointed a finger toward the ruined building. "She doesn't still live on the -"

"39TH floor? Yeah, yeah she does," Rob said. In the background I heard Hud mutter something behind me, obviously sharing in my dismay. I felt my legs go weak, leaning over I placed my hands on my thighs and struggled to take a breath. If I took another step, let alone climb up an unknown flight of stairs, I would kneel over. "How do we even get up there?" Lily inquired, disbelief riddled her tone.

There was a beat of silence from my brother, whose attention seemed more transfixed on the building rather than trying to figure out how to get inside of it. Finally he responded. "I dunno, we just go inside… see how high we can get," The constant shrugging of his shoulders clearly meant he had no idea what to do. Rob was never one for planning ahead. Lily looked to my brother again with an apologetic expression on her face. "I don't think I could do that," She said.

"Yeah, we're going to need a better plan, Rob," I grumbled, flexing my bloody fingers. I watched the blood flake away from my skin, revealing somewhat clean spots stained with rusty colored residue. Glancing up at the building, I wracked my brain over how to get up to the thirty-ninth flood of the complex; All the ideas I came up with, when avoiding the desired use of elevators (they would certainly be out of order) lead to dead ends or our exhaustion somewhere on the stairwells if we tried entering in the second tower.

Plus, there was the integrity of the structure to consider; There was a chance that the building could fall right on us if we even disturbed the slightest thing inside of it. We'd kill ourselves, along with Beth before we could reach her. I didn't see how-

"We- well, maybe we could try going up the other building, and see if there's a place to cross over onto her roof. …And then find some way down to her place," Hud suggested. We all turned to regard Hud with awe, the line of reasoning was obvious and to hear it come from Hud was… odd. Rob didn't think on it for another minute, he started running across the deserted intersection toward the first tower. Lily and I followed after him, tripping over the chunks of concrete scattered on the ground. "No, wait, never mind! That's a bad idea! That's a bad idea, I take that back!" He shouted. I could hear his footsteps coming up fast behind us, focusing on the shattered doorway in front of us. We reached the doorway, picking up my feet, I started up the pile of concrete.

The surface below my feet shifted uncontrollably, grabbing the largest stone in front of me I pulled myself over the hill and slid down onto ground. My eyes stung at the sudden flood of light, wincing I stood upright and passed over the threshold. The lobby was a shining testament of life interrupted, books and cups laid next to the overturned tables and chairs. The couches were missing their cushions, looking closer I noticed that they were small puncture holes in some places.

Lily stumbled past me, turning away from the couches I followed her across the lobby into the hall. Rob stood in front of the elevator panel, tapping furiously at the "up" button. "Shit, shit!" He hissed, rushing across the hall. "They're not working?" Lily asked, following after him. Wariness overcame me as I watched the two of them. Of course the elevators wouldn't work, the building's been damaged, the elevator shafts are most likely damaged as well. Calmly I walked past them toward the open exit door of the stairwell and moved toward the stairs. "Jason, dude…" Hud's words trailed off.

I started up the first couple of stairs just as Rob and Lily were entering the exit door. I stuck close to the railing, using its study frame to help me up the stairs. Glancing upward I noticed Rob turning the corner, already climbing the second flight of stairs. "Rob, wait up, man," Hud heaved breathlessly, jogging past me up the stairs. I heaved out a breath, I did not want to move from where I stopped; I was content with staying right here until the others came back. Yet, there were those crab-things to consider and I didn't want to be around if one of them showed up. "Jason?" Lily said. She stood on the landing, with her heels in hand, watching me with the usual concern. Gripping the railing I pulled myself up. Putting one foot in front of the other, I climbed the stairs as quickly as I could. "Come on, let's not fall behind," I mumbled. Lily nodded in agreement.

* * *

The journey up the stairwell was longer than anyone had anticipated. Many of the levels they passed were not properly marked, so every now and again, Rob had them stop to check the apartments outside the emergency exits. The tower continued to groan under the pressure its sister building was applying against its frame, the lights would flicker on and off giving off the buzz of electricity from its plastic prison.

Jason speculated it was probably worse inside the toppled building; Weak floors, weaker walls, the smell of death, people crying for help while trapped inside their apartments. The vertigo alone would most likely down him if he entered. The thought of all those trapped people made him shudder. Jason kept close to railing, using it to balance himself as he climbed the stairs. Heights was something that never bothered Jason much, but at the moment he was suffering from a serious case of vertigo; It was talking all his strength not to fall over whenever the room would tilt to the left, though he was sure everyone noticed his learning sideways.

"Hey. Did you guys see that guy's face when Lily asked him what that thing was?" Hud's voice echoed through the enclosed area, gaining immediate attention from his friends. He was struggling to keep his arm steady as he fixed the position of the camera. "I mean…They have no idea!" He panted, taking in a gulp of humid air. Peeking over the camera, he waited for an answer.

No one answered immediately, they continued up the stairs in silence. Deciding not to wait for answer any longer, Hud continued. "…Unless, their, like (you know), in on it." That got their attention. Lily, Jason, and Rob turned to Hud, perplexed or irritated looks on their faces. It was as if they were questioning his state of mind. "Jesus Hud," Rob muttered, turning the corner. Hud started climbing the stairs a little faster. "What?" He exclaimed, breathlessly. "I don't read the papers. Maybe our Government  _made_  this thing!" Jason rolled his throbbing eyes. The overactive imagination of Hud never failed to entertain, but at this point even Hud had to know he sounded insane.

"Yeah, well, does it really matter now?" Rob countered, glancing down at his friend. He was not in the mood to humor anymore of Hud's theories. "Yeah!" Hud said breathlessly. His arm titled to the side, causing the focus of the camera to veer upward. Hud struggled to readjust the camera, ignoring the soreness in his arms. "I have to talk about something…! Otherwise, I might actually  _shit_  my pants in this stairwell!" He snapped. The words escaped Hud's mouth so suddenly, that he almost regretted them. However, aside from the glare he received from Jason, neither Lily or Rob responded to his outburst. They climbed the final flight of stairs before coming to a stop on the landing; Jason leaned hard against the railing panting, while Lily and Rob remained in the center of the landing, bent over and struggling to regain to their breath. Hud remained on the stairs, feeling guilty. "Sorry," he murmured.

* * *

**(TBC)**

* * *

**Authors Note:**  Terribly Sorry of the delays. Writers block and other distractions. The final chapter is being completed as I write this.


	6. Part VI: End of the Line

**Authors Note:**  Having, finally gotten over my procrastinating ways, I have finished  _Getting out Alive_. I hope you've enjoyed this AU-tale.

* * *

**[Part VI: End of the Line]**

* * *

**(5:20AM):**

Jason regarded his worn wristband with tired eyes, wondering why he never bought a watch. Time seemed so important before, why wasn't it now? Their deadline continued to flash rapidly in his head like a red neon sign against a black background. How long had they been climbing the stairs now? Running a hand through his hair, he placed his hand against the cool surface of the wall, barely aware of the breeze dancing across his skin.

"Wait, wait. Do you guys feel that?" Rob's question halted the others. Hud looked around for a moment, searching for the sensation in question. Then it hit him; a breeze, the chill he was feeling was coming from a breeze. "Yeah. Yes!" Both he and Lily responded. The ghost of a grin passed Rob's face, turning he vanished behind the corner, muttering something unintelligible. Jason, not paying attention to the situation, bumped into Lily and stumbled backward down two stairs.

Lilly turned and started down the stairs after him, hands flailing to grab Jason's sleeve. Leaning back, Jason fell against wall, halting his progression down the stairway. After a moment of a stillness Hud breathed a sigh of relief while Jason shot his girlfriend a sideways glance. "Seriously, Lily, a little warning," He grumbled, exhaling shakily. Lily simply looked indignant as she folded her arms across her chest. "Well, pay attention-" She started to say, when Rob came from around the corner. "Guys, come on!" He snapped.

Hud snapped to attention immediately. Starting up the stairs, he left Lily and Jason behind and ventured into the darkness of the apartment hallway. The repetitive flash of the emergency lights stung his eyes, he felt blinded and stumbled over several obstacles on the ground. Behind him, Lily and Jason quickly gained on him, seemingly unaffected by the emergency lights. Once again, Hud found Jason leading Lily by the hand, helping her across uneven ground.

_How is it that I'm always left behind?_  Hud griped tiredly. Focusing his attention on keeping up with the others, Hud stepped over the debris as quickly and carefully as he could, muttering as he went. Ahead of him he could hear the shaken disbelief in Lily's voice as she uttered the words "Oh, my God," repeatedly. Stepping over the threshold of the apartment room, Hud's eyes scanned over a fallen table and its plates, still covered in food. Looking away he focused the camera on Lily, Jason, and Rob looking out of a shattered balcony window.

Jason listened to the wind howl outside and felt sick; entrance into the toppled building was now within their grasp, but the prospect of crossing the rooftop made him more than a little nervous.  _Why can't things ever be simple?_  He thought, raising a hand to rub his eyes. Regarding the darkened apartment room, Jason slowly began to reach inside himself for nerve. "Okay. Okay, we can totally do this," Rob started, regarding his brother and Lily. Lily shook her head rapidly in disbelief. There was no way she was going to cross the top of a unstable structure. They could die, or worse,  _fall_  to their deaths. Either way was a loose-loose situation. "I don't know Rob. I'm sorry, I don't-" She spoke, trailing off. Nervously, she brushed her hair out of her face.

Rob placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, leaning forward he pointed to the slanted concrete below them. "Lily, Lily, it's a straight shot. Its - Look, we could use the pipes down there," He explained hastily. "We can use the air conditioners, okay?" Lily's expression was still a doubtful one, standing upright he threw a helpless look in his brother direction as Jason turned in his direction. After their encounter in the subway tunnels, Rob didn't feel right trying to convince them to follow him any further, even if they were doing so by choice. He didn't want to be responsible for anything that happened to them. Jason seemed more well-equipped for that type of responsibility. Jason dead in his tracks when he saw Rob looking his direction, begging for assistance.

A pang of anger twisted inside his chest while his jaw stiffened. Jason regarded Lily's contorted features and sighed. Stepping past her, Jason stepped over the edge and landed on the fallen balcony railing. It shifted under his feet, his stomach lurched, twisting in knots. "Jason, what-" Lily started, grabbing a hold of his shirt. "Lily, its fine. Trust me, babe," Jason interjected. "Just follow me, you'll be fine." His last words silenced any argument she may have had. Swallowing her fears, Lily leaned down, extending one foot over the edge. Jason carefully stepped down the stairs to allow Lily passage.

She descended down the railing slowly, making sure her stiletto heels never touched the bars. Once his feet were planted firmly on the rubble, he gestured toward his brother. "Come on, Rob," He said. "Okay," Rob responded stepping over the edge. "Uhh, I'll, uh, I'll document it," Hud mumbled to himself. He watched them descend with unease, the bridge of debris didn't look like it could hold one person, much less three. The whine of the air conditioners made him nervous, everything on the neighboring roof appeared ready to break free.

"Okay, Hud, come on," Rob shouted. "Put the camera down, come on!"  _Oh, Jesus,_ He thought turning the camera on himself. Through the perspective of the camera's view screen, Hud's face was slick with sweat and dried blood. "If this the last thing you see…" He paused, staring blankly in another direction before reverting his gaze back to the camera. "…That means I died."

"Hud, put down the Goddamn camera!" Jason shouted. Hud let the camera fall to his side, moving forward he stepped over the edge onto the balcony railing. Jason, Lily, and Rob were already scaling the slanting rooftop's edge when he reached the bottom of the railing. Raising the camera up a little he scanned the area, mesmerized by the absence light within the city. Besides the buildings whose lights - remarkably- remained on, the city was pitch black. A terrible screech echoed in the air, all eyes turned toward the very edge of the roof the moment the air condition broke away and fell from the edge. "Oh Shit!" Hud shouted.

* * *

"If we live through this, tell your girlfriend to live on the first floor next time," Jason groused, jumping across the gap of the slanted roof. Jason's footing faltered slightly, grabbing the edge of the air conditioner he fell backward against it and sighed at the close call. Rob tried to look indignant at his brother's comment. "Shut up, Jason. Its not like she knew this would happen-"

"I'm  _aware_  of that, Rob," Jason interrupted flatly. Pushing away from the air conditioner Jason grabbed a hold of the doorknob. With one foot braced against the A.C., he pushed the door open as wide as he could. "I'm just don't see -" Jason sighed, wincing when his hair got into his eyes. "-Nevermind. Give me your hand, bro." Rob rolled his eyes at his brother's unfinished complaint and did as he was told.

Despite the sweat that encompassed his hand, Jason's grip was firm. With the help of Rob, Jason pulled his brother up into the entrance of the door, Rob entered without trouble. Leaning forward a little, Jason extended his hand to Lily who was steadily climbing the slanted rooftop. He said nothing in fear he would sound patronizing, he just watched her steady herself against the air conditioner behind her and leap forward the next instant.

Lily soared across the small gap stumbling over her own feet, Jason grabbed her forearm and pulled her forward. "There we go," There was no hiding the pride in his voice. As left field as it was, Lily found herself appreciating it. Lily gripped his arm as tight as she could, with her free hand she grabbed a hold of the doorframe. Jason stepped back, allowing her inside. Hud followed immediately after her, rejecting any sort of aid from the older Hawkins brother.

Jason stumbled aside, Hud pulled himself inside the apartment complex. Jason shut the door with a heavy grunt. The harsh howl of the wind quieted down, the near silence of the apartment left Hud's ears begging for the noise again. The four remained crowded together in the narrow path for a time, catching their breaths. "Well… that - was… fun," Hud heaved out. Rob shot him a half-hearted glare, unhappy that the silence had been broken.

* * *

**(Jason):**

"Beth! ….Beth! Beth!" Rob's voice echoed through the hallway, overpowering the reprieve blip of the emergency lights. I hoped that once we got into the second tower that things would be a little easier. It was for awhile; The first few corners of the 39th floor were practically untouched by any serious damage aside from the emergency lights and some minor wall damage. Nothing to cause alarm, really, with the exception of the slant of the entire hallway.

We were practically crawling across the walls, throwing ourselves across the hallway to gain ground. It was insane. I found myself ahead of the others, minus Rob, struggling to keep my balance. Every step I took my stomach protested - my gag reflex was all too happy to deny my stomach of its relief.

Behind me, the sound of something hitting the wall I leaned on startled me out of my train of thought. Throwing a look over my shoulder I caught sight of Lily's gold stilettos rolling down the hall. I allowed my gaze to move over to Lily. Her face was hidden by her hair and she was more focused on getting up to the door where Rob stood, than what my reaction to her discarding those cripplers were. I would just give her the "I told you so" speech when we got out of here.

Ahead of us, Rob was throwing all of the weight of his foot against the apartment door. Pushing away from the wall, I stumbled into the middle of the ground - struggling against the gravity that was forcing me back toward the wall and forced myself to move forward. Rob continued to ram his foot against the stubborn doorway, his grunts becoming louder with each bang. "Do you need help? Can you get it?" I heard Lily and Hud inquire to my brother. Rob ignored their questions, he just continued to beat against the door with relentless persistence.

When I finally got up to the top of the hall, Rob's final kick knocked the door wide open, knocking the lock free from the wall in the process. The door hung oddly off one of its hinges, the loud clang of the lock hitting the ground stirred up a memory in me. More or less, it reminded me of his left hook and my throbbing black eye, once upon a time. Rob entered the apartment without a moment to loose, I followed after him. I could feel my eyes readjusting to the sudden lack of light, the howl of the wind outside made me wary of stepping any further into the room. I could fall off a ledge and never know it until it happened. "Beth? Beth?" Rob called into the room.

There was a beat of silence, turning the corner I caught sight of a large window lacking its glass. Tattered white fabric hung on the ceiling, chunks of concrete made it almost impossible to decipher where anything in the room was. Tripping over rocks as I went along, I watched Rob climb over a slab concrete and slide down where a prone body lay on the floor.  _Shit._ "Beth? Oh, my God…" Rob trailed off. Picking up my pace I vaulted over fallen slab of wall, sliding down the rest way. I didn't see Rob's reason for panic at first; Beth seemed unconscious.

My eyes wandered her body, searching for any signs of injury when I saw the pipe protruding from her shoulder. "Did you find her?" Lily asked, climbing over the fallen ceiling chunk. Hud followed closely behind, the dim light of the camera illuminated the small space around him, giving him a sort angelic appearance.  _Yeah, I'm not sure where that came from_ , I thought. I glanced up at the ceiling, what was left of it, above us and became worried again. I could see the inside of the apartment above us, -the bathroom specifically. It made me wonder if the people above were still up there.

Turning my attention away from the ceiling, I focused my attentions on Rob's attempt to revive his not-girlfriend. "Beth, can you hear me?" Rob asked. Lily walked passed me and kneeled down on Beth's left side. Beth remained unaware of us, her skin was a ashy-gray color, exposed parts of her skin were bruised, and her pajama shirt was stained with her blood. Her shoulder was only thing that sustained any sort of traumatic damage; Everything else on her was practically untouched. Suddenly, Beth started to move.

We all paused, I wasn't sure if I was relieved or scared. Slowly, Beth's eyes started to flutter - I swear we must've leaned in closer to confirm it. At half-mass, Beth's eyes shifted about until they caught sight of my brother, she raised her head a little. The ghost of a smile appeared on her face as her chest swelled. "…Hey," She breathed. Rob's expression cracked through his smile, he raised a hand to touch her face. Beth studied his expression for a moment and paused. "Are you really here?" Beth asked, the fear in her voice was unmistakable. "Yeah, I'm really here," Rob assured her, his smile growing wider. Lowering my head I stood up, wincing. My side was still sore as hell, glancing down I checked the torn fabric around my waist, it was still fastened and my side stopped bleeding.

"You came back for me…" Beth said.

"Of course I came back for you," Rob replied. "I'm sorry it took me so long-"

"No, its okay,-"

Watching my brother and Beth speak to each other like they were made me envious for some reason. I had no idea why, but it did. Glancing toward the window, I was suddenly reminded of the short time-leash we had. Kneeling down, I nudged my brother on the shoulder with my fist. "Bro, I don't mean to be an ass and interrupt, but we have get out of here," I said.

* * *

**(5:40AM):**

The voice above her differed greatly from Rob's. Confused, Beth turned her head toward the speaker and focused her blurry vision on the head of dirty-blonde hair. Her vision came in and out of focus, but she could recognize the logo on the T-Shirt hidden behind the dress shirt he was wearing. "Jason…?" Beth whispered. The blurred figure turned his head in response, Beth watched him lean forward a bit, the outline face was almost visible. "Yeah, its me," Jason said, perhaps a bit too hesitantly. Beth's brow furrowed in confusion, she could feel a dull pain radiating somewhere on her body, she couldn't tell where exactly. She examined the shape of his face. "I thought - I thought you d-died…?" She whispered.

Jason blinked, unsure how to respond to that. Beth didn't wait for a response, she continued searching for the pain that was now gradually becoming more persistent for her attention. She let out a moan, turning her head to the left. Beth finally found the source of her pain. There was a pipe sticking out of her left shoulder, a rusty pipe covered in  _her_  blood. Her breathing started to hitch the quicker she inhaled, the numbness in her left arm only made it worse. Rob caught on to her panic right away, place a hand on the small of her back he said, "Okay, okay. Your okay, we're going to get you out of here, okay?" Rob glanced up to his brother, Jason snapped to attention right away and placed his hands on her abdomen to steady her struggling body.

All the while trying to keep her still, Beth's eyes darted between the two brothers as she begged them not to move her, not to touch her. Lily watched from behind, extending her arms she slowly placed them behind her back. Beth started to cry harder, the very thought of the potential pain that would come frightened her. Rob continue to assure her, despite her irrational state of mind. "We're going to get you out - Hud put the camera down!" He demanded, never looking away from Beth. Hud muttered an affirmative and placed the camera on the floor, it slid across the floor and stopped against a piece of broken ceiling. Hud stood next to Rob, his hands on Beth's lower back and arm. "Please Rob, don't - please don't," Beth continued to sob, her feet sliding across the floor, failing to find a proper grip on anything. "Your going to be fine, okay? This'll be over-

"Rob, no-"

"-Before you know it!" Rob glanced up and regarded his friends and brother. "Ready?" They all nodded in the affirmative. Rob nodded in return and started to count over Beth's crying. "1...2...3...!" One mighty pull removed Beth from the rusty pipe, she screamed out in pain as she was lifted from the ground and stood upright. Outside, helicopters roared passed the shattered windows, Beth flinched at the sound. Jason and Hud backed away from Rob and Lily, the two hurried over to the futon (which remained miraculously intact) and sat Beth down. Beth rocked back and forth, trying to ease the pain radiating through her body.

Her shoulder was on fire to the point of numbness, she felt the pain, yet she was positive she couldn't feel her arm. Rob slid his ruined dress shirt from his shoulders, with all the strength he could muster he tore it in half. He handed the piece of his shirt to Lily, Lily raised her arms over Beth's head and proceeded to wrap the shirt around Beth's shoulder. Beth cried out in pain at the slightest touch. "I know, I know. I know it hurts, I know it hurts," Lily rattled off, in a tone suitable for a mother. It did little to assure Beth of anything besides her nearness, she half-leaned toward her friend in an attempt to ease her pain.

Lily tightened the torn shirt around her shoulder, Beth's scream rang out in the room, alongside a inhuman roar. Jason felt his body tense up the moment he turned toward the window; Across the city, the long limbed-monstrosity lumbered clumsily toward them, falling against a tower next to it, as it let out another roar. "God…" Hud murmured from behind the camera, struggling to get the focus correct. Lily surveyed the others, they were frozen with fear. " _What the hell is that?_ " Beth screamed.

Grabbing Beth's good arm, Lily hoisted the girl up from futon. "Okay. We gotta go. We gotta go!" She cried, as Hud muttered, "Something- Something terrible!" He really had no proper way of describing the creature for her. Lily let go Beth's arm, Rob raced over to her right side and threw her arm over his shoulder. A million expletives raced through Jason's head, he pushed away the frame of the window and turned to run. "Hud, c'mon!" He shouted.

Hud turned away from the window, he followed after the others through the slanted corridor, hardly taking the time to grab a hold of something to keep him from sliding toward the other wall. It was like a mad dash to get to the finish line, they retraced their steps and stumbled over fallen objects. The flashing emergency light added an unsettling effect the environment flying past the lense of Rob's camera. He caught brief flashes of Lily's hair, Rob and Beth's back, and Jason's dress shirt.

Ahead of him the emergency exit door opened, flooding the dark hall with the chill of the night wind. Jason held the door open while the others moved past him down the slanted rooftop. He let the door go as Beth breathed out "Oh my God," in a shaky voice. Leaning forward he grabbed the loose rooftop siding, he shimmed down slowly behind the others, struggling to keep his weight from throwing him forward. His eyes focused on the city, occasionally darting down to the ground so far away from them.

The fear of falling threatened to lock his joints up into permanent paralysis, yet he managed find the nerve to keep moving. "Are you okay?" Lily called to Beth. Beth shook her head frantically. "Just don't look down, okay?" Rob said. Beth's eyes darted downward, what little she could see of the ground stirred a panic inside her. "I- I can't help it!' She cried. Rob continued to assure Beth that that she would be 'fine' when the roar of jets distracted him. They all looked up catching the tail end of the jet's thrusters.

No sooner than they did, a explosion rang out across the city. All eyes focused on the ball of fire surrounding the monster. The creature howled in pain, falling against a building once again. Overhead, the sound of more jets (approaching or retreating) echoed through the skies. Jason nudged Rob with his elbow. "Hurry up," He grunted. Rob started back down the rooftop after Lily. "Give me your hand, Beth," Lily cried, extending her arm.

Beth extended her trembling arm, Lily grasped her wrist and pulled her down to the intersection of the two buildings. Beth fell against Lily with a cry of pain when her shoulder collided with Lily's arm. Lily ignored her cry of pain and struggled to climb up the fallen railing. Rob came up from behind, grabbing Beth's waist he helped her up the railing with Lily.

Another explosion went off, Jason and Hud turned back to the scene of disaster across from them, the jets vanished in a blur and the Monster was lumbering onward. The missiles seemed to do nothing to it, the creature tilted its head upward and roared in annoyance at the retreating fighter jets. Jason's eyes wandered across the slick grey body of the creature, his stomach twisted in knots at the lack of damage sustained. Letting go the rooftop siding, Jason fell back and slid down to the intersection of the meeting buildings.

He stopped against a piece of loose concrete, he rolled away from it as it slipped from its position toward the edge. Jason scrambled to his feet, propelling himself across the very short distance between him and the railing. Behind him, he could Hud freaking out at the monstrosity striding across the city, without hesitation. "Jason, Hud, hurry up!" Lily shouted from inside the other apartment.  _Moving, moving, moving,_ Jason replied mentally to her order. He hurried up the fallen balcony railing into the apartment.

Rob ran back over to the broken window, he grabbed his brother's wrist out of mid-air causing the elder Hawkins to jump in surprise. There were a dozen reactions that Jason could've chosen to throw at his brother, but given the circumstances he simply glared at Rob. Jason was inside the apartment once Hud started up the balcony railing, both brothers leaned forward offering their hand to their friend. Hud got half-way up the railing before taking both hands and letting them pull him up into the apartment. "Come on, Come on! Hurry!" Lily's voice floated from down the hall.

Hud barely had time to catch his breath when Jason and Rob bolted away from him.  _I.. I can't take anymore of this._  Picking up the camera Hud took after the others through the hall, glad to have some sense of balance surrounding him. "Come on, Hurry! Hurry!" Lily continued to scream. Her voice was mixture of panic and elation, something he was sure they were all feeling right about now.

Now that they had Beth, all they had to do was get to the evacuation site before the helicopters left without them. As he turned the corner he found Beth in Rob's grasp again, with Jason and Lily leading the way down the hall. Lily urged them forward with her repeated command one more time before lapsing into semi-silence, they pace quickened as their surrounding area became more familiar. The emergency exit appeared at the end of the hall as they rounded the final corner, Hud cried with relief at the very thought of passing through its threshold.

Lily was the first to pass through the door, Jason was following close behind when a screech from above surprised them. Hanging above them was another crab-spider creature, the very last thing they expected to find inside the apartment. It screeched at Lily as it lowered itself from the wall; Lily screamed, stumbling backward she tripped over her own feet and fell backward down the stairs. Jason watched with wide eyes as she rolled down the stairs like a rag doll. The vicious creature snapping at their heels became of little consequence.

"Lil!" Squeezing past his brother, Jason leapt over the creature and stumbled down the stairs. The creature turned its attention toward Jason with a hiss; Acting quickly, Rob shoved Beth into Hud's arms and grabbed the axe out of its compartment on the wall. As it began to move, Rob brought the axe down on Parasite's head. It let out a garbled howl of pain, jumping back against the wall as it writhed in pain. "What the hell was that?" Beth screamed again. Rob resecured Beth in his grasp once more and hurried past the suffering creature. Down below he found his brother cradling a dazed Lily, shaking her in a vain attempt to arouse from her semi-unconscious state. "Shit…  _shit_ …!" He caught the tail end of Jason's string of profane sentence.

Shakily, Jason helped Lily to her feet. Rob said nothing as he hurried past his brother, he tried to communicate with his eyes his concern, but Jason paid him no mind. "Come on, you guys," Hud huffed, turning the corner of the landing. Jason watched his friend vanish down the stairs his brother already traversed and swallowed nervously. Glancing up he observed the writhing creature on the landing, it was too focused on getting the axe out of its head to worry about them. Turning to Lily he asked, "Are you okay?" Lily nodded her head slowly, watching the mouths of her boyfriend move out of sync with the words uttered from his mouth.

Lily felt herself being ushered over to the stairs behind Jason. She glanced up to find out where the terrible screeching was coming from, but Jason's sweaty hands kept head from turning. "Are you okay?" He repeated. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine!" Lily managed to get out. Despite his distress, Jason forced a smile on his face. The dirt caked on his face made the lines of his skin more apparent, Lily studied them fondly as she was pulled down the stairs.

* * *

**(Jason):**

Watching Lily fall down the stairs, I thought I would die. I thought  _she_  would die. It was all just a freak accident, and I felt responsible for it. That thing could move faster than human, I feared that it would get to Lily before I could. So, I threw myself over it and down the stairs, not really caring if that thing got me or not. I just needed to make sure Lily was alright… alive. And alive she was; A little dazed, bruised maybe, but… you get the idea.

I would've danced if it wasn't for what was going on. Precious time was ticking away and we had to move. Throwing her arm over my shoulder we descended down the stairs, running after the others. My arm tight around her waist, I supported her as we exited the stairwell. "…Six o'clock, Hud!" Rob's voice echoed ahead of us, we weren't too far behind. My eyes watered at the sudden change of intensity in the light fixtures, it was much brighter in the hallways than it was in the emergency stairwells. Exiting the hallway, I could hear the sound of gunfire going off outside.

Now that we were on the ground level again, how were supposed to avoid that thing? I came to a halt in front of the rubble, removing Lily's arm from around my shoulder I climbed up the rubble until I was outside the building. I slid down the mound of concrete onto sturdy ground. I offered my hand to Lily, she took it without hesitation and I helped her over the rubble. She came down the hill of debris clumsily, almost falling over as she descended. I caught her, and kept her steady until her feet touched the solid ground.

Lily moved past me with such speed, that I nearly fall back from surprise. I didn't bother to remind her that she just fell down a flight of stairs, tripping over my own feet I ran after her as fast I could. Shadowed buildings became blurred, blocked by tunnel vision. Without the street lights to guide us, running through the dark, guided by the remaining lights of the surrounding business buildings, was a task.

The roar of the creature and the gunfire from the military's artillery kept us moving. We weren't sure where the battle was taking place, the emptiness of the city seemed to make the echoes of the battle come from everywhere. The thought of being trampled unexpectedly by the foot of that creature made me run faster, ignoring the protests of the aching muscles in my legs.

We were approaching the intersection of a street when a roar overhead broke the otherwise semi-silence that befell us. I nearly stopped to duck when I realized the objects that flew overhead of us were missiles, I fought against my own knee-jerk reaction, watching as the city streets became illuminated by a ball of fire as the missiles detonated against a building. Over the roar of the explosion I could hear both Hud and Rob shouting something - vaguely resembling profanity; I have no idea what they said, but it compelled the lot of us to run even faster. The rubble and debris plummeted onto the parked vehicles in their path, the fire billowed out in a circular motion - leaving behind a ball of black smoke. I turned my head away from the scene and continued after the others.

Rounding the corner, I spotted Lily and Rob ahead of Hud, who was just a few feet ahead of me, helping Beth across the street. The track lights above the apartment building's doorway illuminated their path. I marveled at their haste, I wasn't even moving at half their speed; the fear of being left behind intensified within me, I pushed myself harder - willing more speed behind my feet. I crossed the street and managed to catch up with Hud, who was still recording our escape despite everything.

I avoided looking him in the eye, I didn't want him to see how scared I was, I didn't want to loose that small shred of hope if his eyes happened to agree with my fear. The early morning breeze swept across the abandoned streets of New York, I directed my gaze skyward; The sun wasn't even on the horizon yet, the tender skin of my injury recoiled at the iciness of the air. Another roar startled me out of my reverie, only this time it wasn't from a missile.

Turning my gaze to the left, I watched a hulking leg emerged from the shadows and came down over Grand Central Terminal. For the second time that night I saw the thing that had chased all across the city, up close and personal. It was no prettier and combined with the firepower hailing down on its slick skin, my heart was ready to give out on me. It howled in protest to the barrage, it turned away from the military's attacks, barreling into the adjacent building.

The angry swish of its tail sent the already crumbling building, raining down on us. I found myself leaping over rolling concrete, stumbling over my own feet as I attempted to maintain my pace. Lily, Beth, and Rob broke apart, barely avoiding the debris that came at them. Now that they were separated they moved faster. The blinding spotlights up ahead guided us toward the final evac-site; I let out of cry of relief, we were finally here! As we passed the bridge, the loud  _bang!_  of a tank going off across from us made me jump.

Turning in the general direction of the sound, I regarded the tank as it let off one last round at the creature. Without warning, the soldiers leapt from their stations, hoping to escape whatever was coming, but were crushed along with the tank by the foot of the creature. Its head came down as if to inspect its handy work, at the same time a muffled explosion underneath its foot made the ground tremble. My heart beat hard against my chest at the reality that just occurred in front of me. Turning away from the scene, I just kept running forward.

* * *

Jason's heart rejoiced at the sound of helicopters flying overhead, departing and approaching the evacuation site. After countless hours of absolute and unadulterated terror, they would finally be able to take a rest. The thought of his parents crossed his mind and he let out a pathetic laugh, drowned out by the commotion ahead of them.

Two more helicopters soared ahead of them into the heavily illuminated evac-area, the group all came to a halt at the wall of soldiers situated between two jeeps. The air around them was disturbed, Lily and Beth turned their head away from the harsh wind blowing toward them. "Please! Get us out of here! Please, I wanna get out of here!" Their pleads swirled together as one, the soldiers did not bother to separate them. Yelling out their own orders the soldiers took hold of the closest set of civilians and ushered them toward the helicopters. Lily started to move forward when she realized Jason wasn't beside her. Moving against the direction of the soldiers, she extended her hand out toward her lover, Jason took a hold of it without question.

Lily pulled Jason along with her as they were ushered toward the helicopters, a firm hand on her shoulder alerted her to a soldier beside her. "Down, you have to duck, ma'am!" He shouted over the whirl of the helicopter blades. Lily nodded reverently, lowering herself as instructed while maintaining her grip on Jason's hand. They hustled over to the nearest chopper, as one lifted from the ground. Lily stood up a little more, mimicking the postures of the soldiers.

Lily allowed herself to drift into the chaos, and watched the chopper's door open and two soldiers step inside the aircraft. She felt a hand press hard against her back, pushing her into the arms of another soldier. Her hand slipped from Jason's as she forced inside the helicopter. "Wait-!" Lily turned as the door was shut behind her. Before she argue, however, the soldier in front of her already began to fasten the seatbelt around her waist. Through the blur of the smudged window, she watched her friends being moved away from the helicopter, Jason in particular, shouting something to her. She shook her head in frustration, she couldn't make what he was saying. "No, wait a minute! You can't leave!" She cried, pounding against the window. The soldiers sitting with her said nothing, they stared off into space. The cabin started to vibrate violently, they were lifting off! "Jason!" Lily shouted.

Jason shielded himself against the gust of wind that came at them, through squinted eyes he watched as the Helicopter took Lily up in the air, away from the site of disaster. "We'll be right behind you!" Jason's gaze shifted to Rob as his brother shouted to the departing vehicle. He regarded Rob with disbelief in his eyes, the feeling of dread that continued to twist his stomach into knots was stronger than ever.

As selfish as he felt for thinking it, Jason wanted to be on the helicopter with Lily, he didn't want to be stuck in this hellhole with his brother and his friends anymore. Resisting the weariness that threatened to overwhelm him, Jason rubbed the bridge of his nose while Rob tended to the exhausted Beth McIntyre. She leaned against him without argument, taking comfort in his closeness. Jason hardly began to avert his envious gaze, when, a moment later, Rob and Beth were caught in a passionate kiss. Hud watched the entire moment unfold behind the camera and couldn't help but feel a little relieved. Beth was with them now, everything would- Hud's line of thought was cut short by an explosion.

A startled Rob and Beth's held each other for dear life, their gazes focused on the world behind Hud. swinging around, Hud caught the creature approaching their general area as it attempted to avoid the barrage raining down on its body. "Fuck!" Jason blurted. Grabbing Hud by the collar, Jason hurried away from his original position toward safer ground. The explosions were nothing like the ones he always heard in the movies; They made the loudest pops in the world, his ears stung with each round that went up in a ball of white light and fire.

Hud screamed bloody murder as he watched the firefight. The creature let out a thunderous howl before it ducked behind a building. Jason's vision struggled to regain focus after being bombarded by the lightshow they just experienced. Through his hazy vision he spotted the final helicopter landing just across from them. "Oh, thank God… Okay, …okay," Hud breathed. Seemingly out of nowhere, several soldiers started toward them. Jason released his hold Hud's collar, moving toward the helicopter as the military converged on the four of them.

Off in the distance, he could still hear the roar of the creature and the pop of the explosions that hounded it. Squinting against the glare of the spotlight, he kept his head down and continued toward the helicopter. The chopper door slid open, revealing two empty seats. "Get inside!" A soldier shouted. Jason turned toward the origin of the voice; The soldier they met earlier in the mall stood across from him, helping Beth and Rob inside. "Alright, you next," The voice next to him said. Jason did not turn to acknowledge the solider beside him, grabbing the side door, Jason pulled himself inside the helicopter and slid over to the far end of the cabin.

Hud climbed in after him, muttering a breathless 'thank you' to the mall-soldier from before. "Their starting the bomb run!" One of the pilots said. Pryce looked him and nodded. "Get them outta here!" He commanded. The pilot nodded his head in return, focusing his attention on the control panel. Pryce shut the door the helicopter, through the smeared window Hud could see the man backing away from the helicopter. The helicopter began ascend, Jason fastened his seatbelt across his lap, watching the bright lights fade into the darkness the higher the chopper went up.  _Almost there, Lily. Almost there,_  He thought to himself, fighting back a grin. The thought of going home repeating endlessly in his head, teasing with the welcome of his girlfriend and peace of his own bedroom. His body lurched forward with the motion of the helicopter, his blue eyes watched the semi-dark clouds fly by the window.

"I can't believe we lived though that," Rob heaved out, chuckling weakly. Hud and Jason could only nod their heads in agreement. Beth glanced at her boyfriend with silent agreement, despite the confusion that muddled her thoughts. As she was concerned, she was the victim of some unfortunate mishap with her apartment. Beth didn't know what hit her building, but it was strong enough to bring the ceiling down on her. She floated in and out of consciousness prior to Rob's arrival, yet she gathered no vital information that could tell her what caused the incident exactly. In all her twenty years, the last thing Beth expected to be the cause of her misfortune was a giant monster and dog-sized crab monsters. She felt incredibly out of place among the others, who, despite their frazzled demeanors, knew how to handle themselves in the situation. "….Hey? Excuse me, sir!" Jason's voice brought Beth out of her thoughts. The Co-pilot turned his head in question, slightly annoyed by the young man's persistent calling. "What is it?" He replied.

"Where is this thing going?" Jason shouted. The co-pilot paused, he looked to his partner who just nodded his head in a dismissive manner. "We're taking you to D.C. That's where most of the refugees are being situated until further notice," The co-pilot replied. The man said nothing more, but Jason was satisfied with the answer. He had a general idea of where Lily was going to be when he got there. Hopefully they were in same "area" of D.C. when the chopper landed. Silence resumed inside the helicopter, the four friends stared into space, suddenly awkward in each other's company. A burst of static and chatter over the radio caught the attention of Hud, he watched the helicopter pilots turn their heads to look out the lead pilots window.

Following their head, Hud aimed the lense of the camera toward his own window; He caught the tail end of two missiles flying past a moving object, it didn't take him long to realize what they had missed. The from a "birds-eye" view, the monstrosity below looked no bigger than a figurine or statue. The creature raised itself up further on its legs. Looking over its shoulder the beast let out another roar before resuming his pace.

Hud, in spite of his fear, was actually excited by this. He extended an arm, waving it wildly in the direction of Jason. "Do you see this? Are you guys seeing this?" Hud said. He turned the camera toward Rob and Beth. Rob was preoccupied with comforting Beth but managed to cast a distracted glance over at the window. Curious as to what got Hud so animated, Jason unbuckled himself and moved over to the window. "Hey, get back in your seat!" The Co-pilot snapped. Jason didn't spare him a glance, leaning over close to the window he peered out at the spectacle below. "Oh, God… they aren't gonna hit us, are they?" Hud muttered, tilting the Camera up.

Jason's eyes glanced up at the sky, his eyes had trouble focusing on the object following them beyond the spinning helicopter blades. His eyes traced the outline of the object, immediately he recognized the triangle shape as a Stealth Bomber. It was both comforting and unsettling, given that one of the descending bombs could divert its course and land right on top of them … if such a thing was possible. Jason watched their decent intently, counting the seconds as they plummeted down toward their target. The creature seemed oblivious to the scheming of its attackers, it continued onward until it was bombarded by a familiar sharp pain in the center of its lower back. The strength of the blow forced his gangly limbs to buckle. It let out another pained howl, its legs wobbled beneath him - weakened by the shockwave from the explosions going off around it. It reared up in on its hind legs, and its long arms collided against the edge of a building, as though it were trying to stop its fall.

Inside the helicopter, the pilots were shouting excitedly over their headsets at the very sight of the creature falling into the smoke. Their window of hope was finally open to them and the monster had been bested. Jason, Hud, and Rob watched the scene unfold with wide eyes, the Hawkins brothers were unsure whether to cheer or continue holding their breaths. Hud, on the other hand, was too elated to do anything but cheer. His lips quivered excitedly as said, "I think… I think they got him!"

Jason and Rob turned to their friend in perfect unison, the wild-eyed look on Hud's face was unsettling. "Yeah, Yeah,  _Yeah!_  That's the shit right there! That's what I'm talking about-!" A piercing roar echoed out from below the chopper, Hud's joy died quicker than a fire. In the blink of an eye, Jason saw the sharp-ended teeth of their pursuer racing toward them; The four screaming civilians were silenced abruptly by the impact the helicopter suffered.

The glass shattered and was sent flying all around them as the helicopter fell into a tailspin; Rob and Beth were jerked violently in their seats, crashing in everything around them, Hud was treated much in the same fashion as his friends, yet he continued to hang onto the camera for dear life. Jason was thrown across the floor of the cabin, his body crashed against the wall with enough force to knock the wind out of him. He crumpled like a boneless fish against the right seat. The tell-tale signs of unconsciousness began to shut his body down, Jason felt completely detached from his body with the exception of his left arm. He pushed it toward the seatbelt fastened around Beth's waist, with the last of his will-power he wrapped his fingers around the tough fabric while the rest of him faded out of world.

Hud watched the world around them spinning as the helicopter continued its sickeningly fast decent. Despite being firmly penned against the side of the wall, Hud felt as though the entire world had been dropped from beneath him. There was no security, his body was literally protesting against the pull of gravity. His friends held onto the handlebars above them, though it did nothing to stop their wild thrashing. Despite himself, Hud found himself screaming again. "Oh, my God. Oh, my God! God, please, God! Jesus Christ I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, God. Please no! Help me Rob! Rob! Oh Shit! Oh Shit!"

Dirt and glass raced up to meet the lense of the camera and Hudson sank into oblivion.

* * *

The first thing Jason became aware of was his sight. His eyes, they were wide open and gazing at the cloudy morning sky. The second thing was the sensation of absolute stillness, especially within himself. Nothing around him moved or made a sound, save the large object that obscured his vision in the corner of his eyes. Distant popping noises that reminded wood burning tempted him to turn his head, but his muscles wouldn't respond. The heaviness in his chest made him want to worry, but his mind couldn't be bothered with it. As it was concerned, he was safe. There was no immediate danger nearby, he could finally rest.

His eyes started to close again, slowly Jason became aware of the fact that he'd been drifting in and out of consciousness before now. As his mind wandered, a pair of lips came down on his; Instinctively Jason felt compelled to comply to the request made, but his lips wouldn't listen to him. He felt air being pushed into his mouth and down his throat. Jason's eyes widened, his brain sprang to life with activity while the rest of him reacted to the commands sent through him. A hand pressed down hard against his chest, pain blossomed through his upper body. The pain in his chest was persistent, beating hard against his left side; He commanded his body to twist away from the pain, but it wouldn't respond until his limbs tingled with warmth and suddenly he became aware of his own body again.

His stomach started to heave in and out, violently, his lungs responded immediately, greedily sucking in the air that was being offered to him. His abdomen protested against the sudden movement, causing his breath to hitch. The volume in his ears started to rise, Jason could now hear himself choking on air. A hand fisted the front of his shirt and lifted him off the ground. A shoulder entered his line of sight, and left it just as quickly, as Jason felt himself being lowered to the ground. Jason struggled cease his coughing, trying breathing through it. "…Can't do this on my own..," A voice sobbed above him.

" _Lily?"_  Jason rasped, his voice sounded like gravel.

* * *

Beth was brought out of her unconsciousness by a loud thump, her head jerked upward and she cried out at the sudden pain that shot through her neck. Her vision wavered like a static filled picture, the muscles in her eye sockets were sore and refused to keep her eyelids lifted. Slowly, she lowered her head, attempting to relieve the pinch in the center of her neck, her hands moved sluggishly across her lap toward the release on the seatbelt; her left arm more so than the right. Blood started to circulate again through her limbs, her legs jerked violently in response to the pins and needles sensation spreading through her feet.

Confusion settled inside her as she surveyed the surrounding area; As far as Beth could tell, they were still inside the helicopter - She paused. The last few moments that she remembered came rushing back to her; the terrible roar, the sensation of being jerked around, and finally the crash...  _Oh my God… we survived the crash!_  Beth opened her eyes again, the light outside the mangled chopper blinded her. Squinting, she looked around for any signs of the others. She found Rob and Hud across from her, still strapped in by their seatbelts. Shifting her gaze toward what looked like the doorway, she spotted Jason, hanging half way out of the door, his of legs still inside. The fingers of her right hand pressed hard against the release mechanism, the weakness that tingled through the rest of her fingers made it difficult to press the button any further lower.

Finally, she heard a  _snap!_  The belt released her from its grasp, Beth fell forward onto the ground, her arms catching the brunt of her weight, before her left gave out on her. She cried out from the suddenly loss of balance, her shoulder throbbed with pain. A fresh rain stain spreading through her filthy shirt let her know her wound had reopened. With only her right arm, she heaved herself up and proceeded to pull her legs underneath her. Pushing away from the floor Beth fell back on the flats of her feet, her body rocked back and forth slightly then came to a stop.

Sitting there in a hunched position, Beth regarded her three unconscious friends - deliberating over who to help first. The helicopter wasn't a safe place to be, she smell of gasoline and fire burned the hairs of nostrils, her eyes watered from irritation. Rising up from her crouched position, she half-stumbled, half-shuffled over to Jason's prone body. She forced her feet to maneuver past his legs, it was hard considering the dead-weight of her upper body was trying to pull her down on top of him. Once she was close enough to his waist, Beth grabbed a hold of the door's frame and hauled herself out of the chopper, jumping over Jason's head onto the cool grass.

The cold morning air hit her like a passing breeze, her body stiffened upon feeling the chill, she ignored it. Surveying her surroundings, it took very little time for Beth to figure out where they landed. The outlining environment of Central Park was unmistakable; Her eyes traveled around the burning frame of the helicopter, its blades were broken, the few that remain were bent in odd angles. The chopper laid on right its side, the nose was completely smashed in - she couldn't spot the pilots anywhere.

Tucking her arm close to her side Beth shuffled over to Jason; the young man laid on the grass with his arms sprawled out above him and his head turned to the side. Beth regarded him cautiously as she approached; From a certain distance she couldn't tell if he was dead or alive, he laid so still on the ground, seemingly drawing no breath, that Beth was sure he was the first and not the latter. She now stood a few inches from his head, leaning down she grabbed a hold of his shirt. Jason's body jerked in response, Beth let out a scream of surprise when he shot up into a awkward sitting position with a cry of his own.

Tripping over her own feet, Beth landed hard on her ass, heart racing wildly. Jason swayed from side to side, his cry descended into a whine before he started to fall. Moving as fast as she could, Beth managed to place herself under the man. Jason grunted. His arm slid from his lap, he barely moved after that. "Jason?" She murmured. He didn't respond. His eyes stared up at nothing, his breathing was heavy, Beth waved a hand over his face and still got no response.

Picking herself up from off the ground, Beth struggled against the weight of her friend as she wrapped her good arm around his chest. Jason remained unresponsive to her touch, Beth peddled backward quickly; a combination of her own haste and Jason's body weight working against her; The grass was dry enough for her toes to maintain a firm grip on the ground, but at the rate she was moving she doubted she could stop properly even if she wanted. Quickly, she turned herself to the side allowing Jason's limp body to propel them toward the ground; Jason landed on his side with a thud, Beth pulled herself off of him and sat on her legs.

Rolling Jason onto his back Beth leaned over, her ear hovering over his mouth. Not a single breath of air escaped his lips. Beth sat up quickly, confused. Lowering herself down, she pressed her ear against his chest and listened for a heartbeat. The familiar thump of a beating heart did not greet her ear. "Oh, Jesus-!" She blurted, panicked.

Sitting up, Beth reached over and pinched his nose while her lips pressed themselves against his. There was a twitch from Jason's lips that made her think he was trying to kiss her, but she discarded the thought as she pulled away. Beth barely caught the twitch in his left eye, pressing her hand down in his chest she used all her weight to pump his lungs. His body jerked with the motions of her CPR, Beth counted the rhythm of her arm, eyes switching over to Jason's face with every beat.  _Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on!_ She repeated furiously in her head.

She tried to move her injured arm to aid in her the resuscitation, but it wouldn't budge from against her chest. "Damnit," She sobbed.  _Breathe, Jason! Breathe! Please… your brother's gonna kill me if you_ \- Her line of thought broke with the twentieth compression to his chest hit. Jason's face twisted with pain, Beth watched as his stomach started deflate and inflate like a balloon, followed by coughing. Grabbing his shirt, Beth pulled him up from the ground hoping it would help him breathe; His coughing became harsher. Her arm trembled under the excessive weight that pulled against it, she released him almost immediately. Jason fell to the ground with a thump and continued to cough. At least he was breathing. Beth cursed her weakness and injuries. "I can't do this on my own..," she whispered, sobbing.

" _Lily?"_  Jason's voice rasped. Beth shook her head, never casting a glance toward her friend. Jason lowered his head back onto the grass. Beth rose from her spot on the grass and moved with haste toward the mangled helicopter. The smoke filled her senses immediately, her eyes teared up from the irritation but she ignored it as she climbed back inside the vehicle. Climbing over the edge of the seat she moved toward the buckle of Hud's seat and pressed the release mechanism. The young man started to stir, grabbing the strap of the camera Beth tried to pull him up. "Hud.. Hud! Get up!" Beth snapped at him.

Looking down at her arm, she attempted to move it away from her chest; No sooner than she thought it, her arm dropped away from her chest. Beth continued to tug at the young man until he started to move, she pressed her good hand firmly against the cushion of the seat "Wha - what?" Hud mumbled, as he was pulled along the seat of the helicopter. "Hud, you gotta help me…!" Beth gasped. Her arm locked up for a moment, falling limp against her side. "I can't move my arm!"

Over the radio she could hear chatter from what she believed were soldiers, or military officials. The following sentences,  _"Target still active", "Hammerdown"_ , and  _"God help us…"_  came out the clearest to her. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of that creature still roaming around, undefeated. Hud continued to mutter to himself as he stood up, his legs wobbled and his head spun from the sudden blood rush. "Hud, you gotta help me get him outta here," Beth begged, sliding down to Rob's side. "Oh.. Okay," She heard Hud respond slowly. Turning her head away from Hud, Beth worked frantically to get the buckle loose from around Rob's waist. The young man moaned in response to her touch, despite the situation Beth found herself smiling at the sound. "We're going to get you out of here, alright?" She assured him, brushing his hair away from his forehead. Rob turned away from her touch, too tired to move any other part of his body. "Jus' leave me.. I'm not gonna make it," He whispered. "Don't say that! Your going to be  _fine_ ," Beth struggled to maintain her fragile calm. Rob always had to be difficult.

* * *

" _I honestly don't see the fascination with that city. Why move there?"_

" _Uhh, maybe, because its' New York City? Because we want to, Mom?"_

" _I still - what's so wrong with home?"_

" _Nothing's wrong with home, Ma. We just need new surroundings. That's it."_

" _That's it?"_

" _Yes. Its nothing you and Dad have done. We're not angry at you, we just want to explore now. Okay? That's not going to be a problem is it?"_

"…"

" _Ma?"_

" _I don't like the idea of being so far apart is all, Jason. I don't like being separated from my Babies…"_

" _Mom-! We haven't been babies in - God knows how long. I hate it when you call me -"_

" _I have a bad feeling, that's all...especially with that's happened in that god forsaken place- I don't-"_

* * *

Jason shot up from the ground at the sound of a scream. Overhead, he heard the distinct sound of Jets flying by. His blurred vision darted around the empty space around him, unsure how he escaped the helicopter. The scream echoed out again, Jason immediately recognized his brother's voice and scrambled to his feet, acting purely on instinct. His body, however, did not agree with the sudden movement, Jason nearly crumpled over from the sudden shock his nervous system received. " _Fuck_ … me. Ow," He grounded out, balling his hands into fists. His head throbbed in sync with the dizziness, his muscles stiffened with every attempt he made at moving forward.

Jason turned his head toward where he thought he heard the scream originate, through his blurred vision he spotted three shapes huddled on the ground, all them were speaking at once, too fast for his hearing to decipher. A few minutes later another scream erupted, ripping through the air. "Rob? Rob!" He tried to shout. He sounded so pathetic to his own ears, his voice barely rose above a whisper. His throat was burning like he swallowed moonshine, he had no idea why. He bent over, winded from the small excursion of energy.

The dizziness hit him full force, bringing him down to his knees again. He let out a moan as he lowered his head to the cool ground, the lightheaded feeling developing killed his sense of balance. His side throbbed like crazy and he could feel a mixture of warmth and iciness spreading through his mid-section.  _Mom. Mom, where are you?_  He thought himself. If this was dying felt like-

"Jason!" His brother's voice broke through his haze, raising his head from the ground he watched as the three blurry figures hobbled over to him.  _Take your time, guys,_  was all that he could muster to think. A pair of hands grabbed his arms, before he could react Jason found himself being hauled to his feet. A wave of nausea assaulted his senses, he gagged. "Can you walk? We can't carry you, man," Hud's panicked voice made his ears ring. Jason shrugged the hands off his arms and nodded. " _Yeah_ , I can walk," He answered, thickly. "Is Rob-"

"Rob's fine, Jason, but we gotta go. Its not safe here," Beth responded quickly. Jason nodded at the long haired blur in front of him. There was barely a beat of silence before he felt himself being shoved toward the blur in the middle. The tallest blur, which he assumed was Hud, stepped out of his line of sight. Jason looked around, careful not to twist his head too fast when he felt the hand lead him closer in the direction of the two smaller blurs. Hud watched Jason's eyes dart toward him as placed Rob's arm over Jason's shoulder. "Oh, wait a sec! I'll be right back," Hud breathed, darting away from the group. Beth's protest never reached the tip of her tongue, she watched with a disgruntled sigh as Hud raced toward the discarded camera.

Rob regarded his brother's face, contorted with pain and confusion. "Are you okay?" He inquired. Jason shook his head. "No. I can't see anything," He replied. "Its all blurry." Rob reframed from showing any outward reaction to his brother's declaration. "Okay, guys, we have to move!" There was a tug on his arm from Beth, Rob leaned in her direction, signaling his brother to follow. Jason got the gist of his body language, he followed the two without hesitation. As they hobbled across the park, Jason picked up the faintest feeling of a tremor echo through the ground, growing stronger with each passing second; His brow furrowed in confusion. "Do you guys feel that?" He asked carefully.

Beth and Rob regarded Jason with confusion. "Feel what-" Rob started to say. His question was instantly forgotten the moment he saw the hulking shadow spread across the ground and over Hudson.  _ **"Hud!"**_ Beth and Rob's terrified screams caused Jason to jump.

"What-?" Hud glanced up from his examination of the video camera, instinctively raising the view finder to his eye, unconsciously following the growth of the shadow spreading around him. A rush of air hit him when the gray shape hit the ground.  _"Oh!"_ The tremor threw his balance off. At first he wasn't sure what he was staring at, it looked like a hulking mass of gray potter's clay. However, a quick pan downward revealed two large toes and their toenails. By the time Hud realized what he was staring at, the camera already panned across the monstrous figure's underbelly, stopping on its head.

Hud stood transfixed by the sight of the creature, its head (which was considerably smaller than the rest of him) turned slowly, methodically, as if searching for its prey. Across from him, he could hear Rob and Beth screaming for him to move, to come toward them. Hud wanted so desperately to do just that, but he was paralyzed by his own fear. His limbs wouldn't move. The beat of his heart rang loudly in his ears, its erratic sound louder than his own breathing. Finally, the creatures head made one last turn then tilted downward.

Hud didn't spot its eyes at first, his eyes were drawn toward the large "sac"-like growths on side of his head, he assumed they were eyes. But a blink of his own eyes he spotted the black and reflective pearl shaped eyes of the creature as it lowered its head, as if to inspect him.  _"Hud!"_  Rob shouted again. Hud remained rooted in his place, self-pitying tears running down his face. The creature's shoulders pulled back, the sacs on the side of its head inflating in sync with its heaving breathing. Like a cat, the monster raced forward, its jaws opened to reveal jagged teeth and tongue. Hud could do nothing but scream as its jaws enclosed around him and sunk its teeth into his flesh.

* * *

**(Jason):**

"What? What's going on! Guys!" I panicked. Rob and Beth were screaming like madmen, shouting for Hud to follow them. I may have been blind but the low growl that emitted from above us and the slow swish of a tail, coming in and out of my line of sight was enough to tell me know what was going on. That  _thing_  had caught up to us and Hud was too close for comfort. the inside of my left ear throbbed with pain as I tried to decipher what was going on around me. Pulling away from Rob, I stumbled sideways from the lack of balance. My legs gave way beneath me, in spite of my feeble attempts to stay upright. Looking over my right shoulder I realized that I was no more than a couple inches away from Rob and Beth.

For a the longest stretch of a second my brother and his girlfriend fell into silence …I could hear it breathing. The harsh intakes of breath reminded me of a whale coming up to surface, the smell wafting through air was a mixture of raw fish and what I could only describe as what a dozen human corpses might smell like. "Hud!" Rob shouted, again. The growl above became deeper, lower to the ground, my body stiffened at the sound. I shifted my eyes toward the very edge of the hulking mass across from us; I could see the outline of Hud's body standing in front of the monster. He gave no sign that he heard my brother's request, no sound of approaching or departing footfalls to indicate that Hud moved from wherever he was that caused the couple to panic.

Roar shattered the silence, I could hear Hud repeating  _"No, no, no!"_  over and over before it became a muffled scream as the creature's jaw closed around him. My heart clutched up in terror as I watched his feet leave the ground. My mouth hung open in realization of what had just happened. There was an awful crunching sound, I'm not sure if I imagined it or not, but I heard it, just briefly before there was silence again. There was a dull thud, I felt my body jerk back at something wet being splattered across my face.

The footsteps began to retreat, the ground shuddered as it departed. I glanced up and realized I could see the light of the sky again, nothing was obscuring my vision. Lowering my head I tried to focus my sight. Through the blur of my vision I could make out the shape of an upper body. It landed across from the three of us, I started to crawl toward it when I heard my brother call out "Hud!" He and Beth rushed toward him at top speed, Rob frantically repeating Hud's name.

Struggling to my stand, I tripped over my own feet after the others. My hands met the ground more than once, I used the momentum going down to push myself upward. "Hud!…Hud! Hud!" Rob's voice was thick with tears, my heart twisted with dread. Once I was close enough I came to a halt behind Beth; At this proximity I could make out their figures a little better. Beth was hanging over Rob, her arms around him while he sobbed, rocking back and forth. I stepped out from behind them, I made way around her to inspect the severity of Hud's injuries.

And that's when I noticed The lower half of Hud's body had been severed completely. All that remained was his upper body, and the camera, all of which was covered in blood. His face was placid, if it wasn't for the lack of legs I would've sworn he was sleeping. My reaction wasn't immediate; For some reason, I actually took the time to  _choose_  which emotion I wanted to exhibit. Combined with the smell of blood, the thought alone made me crack. I turned away, heart twisting with guilt and grief. Bending over, I placed my hands on my thighs and fought the urge to cry. First Marlena, now him.

Hud didn't deserve this.

* * *

Jason and Beth moved swiftly across the cold pavement, between them, Rob tripped over his feet, struggling to keep up with their pace. Behind them explosions went off in near-succession, a roar followed every time. "Keep moving!" Beth commanded, adjusting Rob's arm around her shoulder. It had been a the task, trying to get Rob away from the body of their fallen friend. Jason didn't like the idea of leaving Hud behind anymore than his brother did, but with the reminder of the "Hammerdown Protocol" looming over their heads, Jason was determined to get them to a safe place. He approached his brother as calmly as he could, using his hands to locate his exact spot. He pleaded with his brother to get up, but Rob only seemed to rebel harder against him. He had a death grip on Hud's bloodied shirt and had no intentions of releasing. However, It only took Beth's reassuring voice to shake Rob out of his state of grief long enough to get him away from the crash site.

They ventured into the surrounding trees of the park, hoping to find cover from the monster, who was still a fairly close distance to where they were. Half-way through the faux-forest of the park, jets could be heard flying overhead, followed by the sharp hiss of multiple explosions. The air seemed to tremble in protest against the violet shockwaves that disturbed it. The trio stumbled down a slope onto to the concrete path, breaking into a run. Their heads whipped about wildly, searching for any signs of danger. They'd been completely focused on the larger monster, that they had forgotten about the crab-spider creatures. Beth prayed none of them were lurking about the park.

With the exception of a few fallen trash cans and tree branches, the park appeared untouched by the chaos, a picture of normal. They hobbled until to they came to a fork in the road; Jason was inclined to go left, the memory of a building somewhere in the direction flashed in his mind. "Over there!" Beth pointed across the way on the right. Jason looked toward the right, immediately spotting the Greyshot Arch Bridge.

Jason started down the right pathway with Beth. The sounds of the battle taking place seemed to grow closer the faster they approached the arch, the roar of the beast became more distorted every explosion that went off. In spite of becoming familiar with the sound, its roar was still so alien, unnatural to his ears. As they got closer to the bridge, pressure started to build up in Jason's side, he stumbled to a near halt; Beth did a double take, barely catching as he lifted Rob's arm over his head and tried to stop moving forward. "Jason?" She cried, confused.

Jason waved her off, too distracted by the chill spreading through his abdomen. Grasping his shirt, he pulled it up away from his skin, along with the makeshift dressing Lily used to cover his wound, ignoring the way the dried blood flaked away from his skin. Looking down at where he remembered the cut in his side to be, Jason pressed two fingers against his skin. The skin obliged to the force being applied against it, he nearly gagged when felt loose skin brush his fingers. He Bent the tips of his fingers forward, Jason's heart skipped a beat when his fingers entered the wound, greeted by a fresh bout of blood.

_Shit._

* * *

"Where's Jason?" Rob asked.

"Behind us, keep moving!" Beth ordered, heading toward the wall of the arch. Rob did as he was told, fighting to keep up with her pace. His camera dangled between them, bumping their legs in sync with their movement. Beth barely made it underneath the bridge before her legs gave way beneath her. She pulled Rob down with her, they hit the ground, knees first; Their bodies stretched across the ground, they stopped themselves with their hands. Their palms bounced violently across the concrete until their bodies came to a halt. The couple struggled to regain their breath, heaving in and out in a feeble attempt to match the rhythm of their rapid heartbeats.

Behind them, the sounds of battle continued on behind them. As Rob listened on, the image of watching Hud being devoured by the monster played over and over in his mind. He squinted his eyes against the horrid scene. Hud's body vanishing in and out of the creature's mouth as it chewed effortlessly on his body, before severing it half. Rob could remember his throat closing up on him as he watched Hud's upper body flail about in mid air before landing on the ground.

He sobbed, blaming himself for everything that happened; None of them would be here if he hadn't gotten jealous about Beth inviting Travis. Hell, if he called her after sleeping with her, Lily wouldn't be separated from them, Beth or Jason wouldn't be hurt, Marlena and Hud would be still be alive. They would all be safe across the Brooklyn Bridge, watching the incident from afar. Spectators of a event, instead of participants. His mouth flapped open and shut, struggling to verbalize everything he was feeling.

He felt Beth's fingers close around his, gripping them so hard he feared they would break. Pain tingled up his arm, chasing away the numbness that was spreading through his being. Heaving out a unsteady breath, he said, "He's gone… he's gone," Rob's body shook from the strength of his heaving. In the corner of his eye he could see Beth nodding her head, her grip became tighter around his fingers. "He's- they're all gone…," He croaked. "I know," Beth whimpered.

The two remained in a semi-groveling position for a time before another explosion rang out in sync with the monster's roar. Rob felt Beth stiffen beside him as he pulled himself up into a sitting position. Lifting his chin away from his chest he spotted Jason limping toward the safety of the bridge. Beside him, Beth hiccups were strangled by a gasp. "Jason?" She whispered. Rob's heart skipped a beat at the lack of urgency in his brother's movement.

Careful not to apply any more pressure than necessary to his injured leg, Rob hobbled toward Jason. The older man glanced up at blur that was Rob, relief spread through him like a burst of warmth. Rob's eyes darted away from the slits of his brother's eyes, covered with blood. He hurried over to Jason as he began to stumble; grabbing Jason's arm, he ducked underneath him and flung the arm over his shoulder.

"Where the hell were you?" Rob panted, hobbling toward the underpass of the bridge. Jason mumbled something inaudible, he was too focused on stumbling over his feet - under the impression that he was lifting them off the ground and walking like a normal person. The two entered the underpass, the weight of Jason's body caused Rob's legs to give way beneath him; They fell to the ground, Jason allowed his weight to bring him to the ground and rolled away from his brother. Pain radiated through his abdomen, slowly he pushed himself up into a sitting position against the wall. In the corner of his eye he could see Rob and Beth observing him cautiously, their gaze breaking away briefly to peer outside the underpass. Shivering, he wrapped his arms around his waist.

"We have get out of here!" Beth cried.

"Are you okay?" Rob inquired, ignoring Beth.

Jason cracked a shaky smile at his brother, he gave him a half-shrug. How was he supposed to reply to that question? He couldn't see shit, that's the part that scared him. He was blind, his hearing wavered in and out like faulty sound system. The hole in his side was deeper than he remembered and his dressing was soaked to the bone. And judging by the lightheadedness he was experiencing, Jason was pretty sure he would loose consciousness soon. "I'm- I'm cold…" Jason grounded through his teeth. He let out a breath, lowering his head he shut his eyes. Opening them again he regarded the blur of his brother and frowned. "I'm in a bad way bro. I could use a new bandage," The last part of his sentence came out in a laugh that dwindled in a sob. Rob snapped to attention, reaching over he grabbed the flap of his brother's dress shirt.

"What are you doing?" Jason said.

"I need your shirt. Sit up," Rob answered. Jason did as he was asked, using what little strength he had left in his stomach muscles to keep himself upright and away from the wall. Unwrapping his arms from around his waist, he helped Rob shimmy the bloodied blue dress shirt off his shoulders. Without missing a beat, Rob proceeded to tear the weaker parts of the shirt away, creating uneven pieces of fabric long enough to wrap around his brother's waist. In the background, the roar of the monster seemed to grow closer, a fact that Rob knew they were all trying to ignore. "Okay, lift your shirt," He said. Jason raised his shift halfway up, he pulled the dressing away from his waist.

Rob was unable to hide his shudder, Jason skin was an ugly shade of purple, green, and black. The edges of the cut were puffy with irritation. Averting his gaze further down, Rob took notice of how dark with blood Jason's pant leg had become. It was a miracle that Jason hadn't passed out yet. Moving quickly, Rob wrapped the torn fabric around Jason's waist and tied it. Jason cried out in pain, his arm shot out to halt his brother's rough handling of his waist, but Rob slapped his hand away before resuming his task. Jason reached out to stop him again, Rob released his hold on the fabric and grabbed his wrist. "I know this hurts, man, but I have to cover this up," He said. Jason gave him a wary look before lowering his arm. Rob repeated the process with two more strips of dress shirt, until he was secure in thinking they were tight enough. "Alright, done," Rob looked his brother for approval. "I'll - I'll take your word for it," Jason heaved out, jaw line trembling.

"Just stay awake, and you'll be fine," His tone was harsher than he intended it to be. Jason threw him a sidelong look, a thin lipped smile crossing his features before he closed his eyes.

* * *

Rob let out a resigned sigh as he watched his brother struggle to turn himself around so that his back was facing him. This was it. There was no escaping the city that had once been their home. Turning away from his brother, he moved toward Beth who sat at the edge of the underpass, flinching at the sound of approaching chaos outside. Her face red with exertion and covered in a combination of blood, dirt, and salty tears. She favored her arm Without looking up at her would-be lover, she said, "We gotta go. We gotta go…"

Rob looked incredulous. "Go where? There's nowhere to go to!" He replied, flinching at another explosion. Beth's head whipped around to meet his face, her brown eyes wide with fear. Rob found his arms caught in her panicked grasp. "We have to get out of here! Its coming toward us!" She wailed. And as if to response, the monster's roar once again overpowered the weapons that attacked him, Rob wrapped his arms around Beth and attempted to console her. Beth wailed against his chest, clutching his undershirt like a life-line.

"We should just wait here. Just wait here," Rob breathed, rocking her trembling form. "Listen, we wait here, they'll find us… all right?" He hoped his words would reach her and calm her down; Beth pulled her face away from Rob's shirt to look outside again, there was not a sign of the danger approaching, but the sound continued to draw closer to them. Her breathed hitched at the thought of the end - the end of their lives. Grabbing a handful of her own hair, she shook her head in disagreement. "No, we can't stay here," She said. Rob rubbed her back in a circular motion, he pressed his cheek against Beth's head and stared out into space. "I'm so scared," She whispered, hiccupping. Rob nodded understandingly, pressing his lips against her head. "I know, I know," He replied.

* * *

**(Washington, D.C.; RFK Stadium):**

* * *

Lily Ford had never been so afraid in her life. She twisted her tattered dress in knots as she watched the military personnel wade through the dozens and dozens of refugees huddled on the ground, wrapped in blankets, lying on cots, wrapped in bandages and casts. She sat in one empty stadium rows, wrapped in a heavy wool blanket herself. Her cuts had been treated and wrapped, the only thing they couldn't provide her was a some affirmation that her friends had made it out of the hot zone.

No one would tell her anything; Lily tried not being an annoyance to an already overburdened relief-group, but the mystery, and relative feeling of helplessness, choked her good sense. At least when she was with the others, she had felt like she could've aid them somehow in their situation. When she had been pulled onto the helicopter, she was so relieved because she knew they were all going to be safe.

That is… until the helicopter door slid shut and she was only occupant of their group inside. All of her relief died when she watched Jason and the others fall out of her view as the copper rose into the air. Her gaze remained transfixed on Jason's half-sullen, half-relieved expression until all she could see were the tops of the floodlights.

The ride in the Twin-Huey was a blur in Lily's mind, she barely remembered anything aside from the repetitive beat of the chopper blades. All she really remembered was a fractured moment in time, between herself and Jason in Central Park during beginning of their relationship. Jason had barely began to smile at her when Lily was rudely awakened by one of the soldiers sitting across from her.

She was lead into the RFK Stadium with other arrivals and taken care of. Now she sat alone, her thoughts conjuring up terrible images of her friends suffering. Releasing the end of her cocktail dress, she clasped her hands together, fingers intertwining with each other. Lowering her head she pressed her knuckles against her forehead.

_Please God, bring them back safely. If its not too much to ask, just bring them back to me._

_I don't want to be the only person left alive after all this._

_I don't want to be alone._

_I don't want to be alone._

Lily pressed her hands against her face and sobbed.

* * *

Jason spent the last twenty minutes listening to his Brother and Beth speak to the camera, briefly describing the events that they witnessed and lived through; Beth was in tears by the time she reached the end of her confession; He heard the camera being placed on the ground and Rob's hushed whispering as he tried to comfort the sobbing young woman.

Jason's body ached with a terrible chill; No matter where he turned it followed him, nestling itself in a new region of his body, zapping the warmth out of him. He rested against the wall, his arms were folded tightly across his chest as if they were going to protect him against the shivers that traveled through his body. His legs were pulled up, his knees rested against his arms.

Behind him he could hear his brother, dragging his feet behind him as he approached him. Jason barely opened his eyes when Rob's hand clasped his shoulder. "Hey, man, you alright?" Rob's voice was raspy, Jason swallowed unconsciously, his throat was so dry. Rotating his shoulder, Jason flexed his hand that was pressed against side and winced at the first moments pain. Glancing over his shoulder, he nodded his head. "I'm fine. Where's Beth?"

Rob took a moment to answer Jason's question. Casting a glance over his shoulder, he peered down at Beth who laid curled up on the floor, exhausted. Turning back to Jason, replied, "Sleeping. Tired herself out," Jason let out a laugh that sounded closer to a cough, he readjusted his throbbing his shoulder against the wall. Rob removed his hand from Jason's shoulder, moving back he watched his brother turn himself around so his back was facing the wall. Rob swallowed inwardly at the haggard expression on Jason's face; The dark circles under his eyes were more pronounced against the paleness of his skin. Rob forced a smile on his face, hoping he'd chased away the aghast in time. "You look like crap, Bro," He laughed.

Jason cracked another wry smile. "You… don't look too hot yourself, Robby," Jason replied, nodding to the trail of blood running down his forehead. Rob raised a hand to brush his forehead, stiff with dry blood. He snorted at the sound of his nickname. He remembered banning everyone at home back in Minnesota from using it, with the promise that he would give them all a finely placed "knuckle sandwich". Naturally, Jason never took his threat to heart and would call him 'Robby' whenever he got the chance and Rob only remembered punching him once for it.

"Hey, Rob…" Jason's voice pulled Rob out of his reminisces. Brown eyes met pale blue and for a moment Rob expected his brother cry, but instead he got another smile. "Can you believe that I - that I actually the balls to blame you for all of this?" Jason murmured, eyes drooping. Rob felt a pang of anger pierce his heart, he watched his brother's pained expression as he struggled to sit up a little more against the wall.

"What?" It was all Rob could manage to say.

Jason nodded. "Yeah, I think I still do in some way. I mean, I know it was my choice to follow (you're my brother after all. I'd walk through hell for you), to stick with you for as long as I did. But after everything that happened to me, to Lily, Hud, and Marlena ( _ **especially**_  Marlena), I wanted to  _kill_  you." Jason paused. "I mean, I really wanted to. The whole trip like a suicide mission-" He stopped, shifting his gaze downward. He resumed "Anyway, I started thinking Beth was not worth the lives of who remained, not worth my life, but when we got to her apartment, all of that was sort of forgotten. At least until one of those thing attacked us, and Lily got hurt. I really wanted to die, then." Jason's lip trembled his blurred vision became more obscured by tears.

Rob watched silently, his mind struggling to understand what his brother was trying to tell him by confessing all of this. "When we arrived at the final evacuation site and Lily took my hand, all I could think of was getting my ass on a helicopter before anyone else. It almost happened too, but then she was taken away from me- Lily got in the chopper first and was taken to safety. I was relieved, and angry that I couldn't be with her. That I had to be stuck with you, Hud, and Beth…." Jason trailed off, he let out a shuddering gasp of breath that caused his entire body to tremble.

Jason removed his hand away from his side, the fingers shook as he brought up to his face. "I thought for sure that we were gonna get out of here, but that fuckin' thing just knocked out us of the air like flies. Now Hud's dead, and we're all gonna end up like him if the military doesn't get to us first." Jason's voice lost all the composure, Rob managed to make out fragments of his brother's finale words amidst his sobbing. Casting a glance over to where Beth laid, he was surprised to find her still asleep next to the camera. Looking back to his brother, Rob began to consider all that was divulged, unable to really hate his brother like he wanted to.

At least, not while in the pitiful state he was in. He was afraid of dying, ashamed of the self-preserving line of thought he never got the chance to act on. Rob felt like he should say something to his brother, maybe tell him he wasn't angry or something, but nothing really felt worthy of the situation. As he started to move away from Jason, he caught the glimmer of orange spreading across the underpass walls. A high pitched whistle tore through the air.

Beth sat straight up from her sleeping position, Jason's sobbing stopped instantly, and Rob's head turned toward entrance just moments before the bomb hit. His vision was consumed by a harsh white hot light, a second later his body felt the full force of the shock wave. Rob let out a strangled cry as his body was thrown across the ground, limbs wiping around like they had a life of their own. He could hear the walls around them crumbling, he  _felt_  them crumbling around them. His head collided with something solid, pain blossomed through his skull and unconsciousness rose to claim him.

In the distance he could hear Beth and Jason screaming for him, he couldn't move.

"Rob! Rob, please! Rob! I … don't leave me alone… I love you!" It was Beth. A moment of fleeting happiness hit Rob in near succession with the second blast. The shockwave hit him again, tearing him apart.

Robert Hawkins knew no more.

* * *

**THE END**


End file.
